So who do you think is the most important person in your church? As they might say at the Oscars “here are the nominations”
- Is it the pastor / vicar? Well you can’t have a church without a leader can you?
- Is it the preacher? Well you can’t have a church without a preacher can you?
- Is it the worship leader? Well you can’t have a church service without any singing can you?
- Is it the youth leader? Well you can’t have a church without someone leading the young people can you?
- Is it the Sunday school teacher? Well you can’t have a church without someone teaching the children about God can you?
- Is it the crèche leader? Well you can’t have a church without somewhere to leave the young children during the service can you?
- Is it the Treasurer? Well you can’t have a church without someone paying the bills and making sure that the church does not run out of money can you?
- Is it the Technical team? Well you can’t have a church without someone making sure all the microphones, sound mixers, laptops and various other gadgets are working properly can you?
- Is it the person on the coffee and tea rota? Well you can’t have a church which does not serve coffee and tea after the service can you?
- Is it the caretaker? Well you can’t have a church where no repairs and maintenance are ever done to the building can you?
- Is it the cleaner? Well you can’t have a dirty, dusty untidy church can you?
- Is it the administrator? Well you can’t have a church that is disorganised and not run properly can you?
And the winner is…….. well there is no winner because no one person is more important than any other. We all have different gifts and they all need to be used to build up the church.
It is strange though that we often act like we do not believe this. You will hear people say things like:
- “We’ve got a really great pastor at our church”
- “The preaching is outstanding at our church”
- “The worship is awesome”
- “We have a great youth leader”
However we rarely heard anyone say:
- “We have a great treasurer and even though money is a bit tight they always insists we regularly give to mission work”
- “Our caretaker is great he always ensures that repairs are carried out immediately and keeps the building in fine fettle.”
- “The technical team are awesome. They arrive an hour before the service starts to set up the equipment and stay on for an hour to put it away. Nothing is too much work for them.”
- “Our church is so clean and immaculate.”
I wonder why we tend to regard some people as more important based on their particular gifting?
For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. (Romans 12:4-8 NIV)
Still Learning 