If you’re a Christian, whether you realize it or not, you are called, by God, to be on mission in the world.
This is the essence of the Gospel call, that you were not simply saved from death but also saved for a purpose (Ephesians 2.10″>Eph. 2:10). That purpose is to make disciples (Matthew 28.16-20″>Matt. 28:16-20).
And the way God has called you to make disciples is through the local church, His expression of His body in your community.
So how do you help your disciple-making, evangelistic, Bible-preaching church with its mission?
You might think I’m going to say something really cool like, “Go to another conference with a well-known speaker,” or “Read and then pass along to your pastor that best-selling book” or “Get your pastor to do this or that new, innovative church ministry model.”
Those are all good efforts. And if you are in a position of influence, please use that to move your church forward.
But there is one very uncool thing you can do to help your church be all that God desires it to be in the community.
Be dependable.
If you were to give your pastor a shot of truth serum, he’d probably say his biggest frustration is to find dependable people. Of course he won’t say this publicly, because he’s very grateful for the few in his church who are dependable.
I think of my own church, Gages Lake Bible, and the band of people who give of their time (mostly volunteer) to make the church function smoothly. They are awesome.
There is a verse, 1 Corinthians 4.2″>1 Cor. 4:2, that I memorized while in Christian grade school. It’s simple: “It is required of stewards that they be found faithful.”
In other words, what God is most looking for from His people are not necessarily spectacular gifts, stunning talent or amazing personality. Those are wonderful traits that can be leveraged for God’s kingdom, to be sure. But what God is mostly looking for is faithfulness.
Faithfulness is really not a sexy term.
You don’t see too many big conferences on faithfulness.
I’m guessing none of the political candidates are running on a faithfulness platform. And it’s a subject that is not going to wow your Twitter and Facebook followers.
But, wow, is it valuable in a church, especially most churches that are, like our church, small and limited in resources.
One faithful person or a faithful family can really move a church forward.
And by faithfulness I mean:
Attending the services and functions whenever possible.
Even when you don’t feel like it. Even when you’d rather be watching football.
