May 6th update
I love quotes, and I came across one this morning that I’ve been thinking about all day. It went something like this: “A church’s long term effectiveness is killed when it allows the focus to shift from ‘service’ to ‘serve-us.’”
Last Sunday we finished the DNA of a Dangerous Church series and when I think about the five DNA statements we talked about, and that quote, I get more fired up than ever to fight against an attitude of wanting to be served rather than a desire to serve others. I hope it fires you up the same way.
If you’ve been around Heartland lately you’ve no doubt noticed that more and more people are coming on Sunday. It’s exciting to see that God is being glorified by more people, and it’s exciting to think about lives being changed and the eternal impact that’s happening. I also get excited because I whole-heartedly believe that the trend of more people coming is only going to continue.
But what that also means is that the mature Christ followers in the church will have to continue growing in their desire to serve, rather than be served, if we’re going to maintain a healthy balance. Think about it this way: When more people come, the natural thing to think is, I can serve less because more people are here to serve; or I can give less, because now there are more people here to give. But it doesn’t really work that way. People who are new to church don’t usually jump in immediately to give or serve. So, now the need for volunteers goes way up, but the number of potential volunteers has stayed the same. And that’s a good thing!
If we as Christ followers are not always increasingly challenged to do more and give more than we’re comfortable doing, we’ll hit a plateau in our life; in our walk with Christ. So instead, God brings people our way who need us to serve them. It forces us to continue dying to self...it forces us to continue becoming more and more “Christ-like,” which ultimately, is the goal for our lives.
The problem comes when people decide they don’t want to get more “Christ-like” and other’s centered. When that happens the church suffers, and as a result, grows stale. That leads to it losing influence and eventually to death.
The best way I know of to fight against this is for me personally to go serve. Anywhere. It doesn’t have to be in the center of my giftedness, or in my “sweet spot.” I just have to go serve anyone, in any role. Just the simple act of serving others kills the selfishness in me.
So the best thing I can do for you today is to challenge you to serve. I did not write this blog post with this I mind, but it’s a convenient outlet for my rant. Here’s the deal. This weekend is Mother’s day. Plus, we’re dedicating babies. Plus, Mike Breaux is going to be here. All of which means we will have lots of visitors, bringing kids that get checked into LAUNCH: Kids at Heartland. So, here’s your opportunity to continue growing....email and ask two questions: “When and Where?” Nicole will put you in a role that will be a huge blessing to all those new visitors, and will simultaneously kill a small piece of the self-centeredness in you.
Let me close by saying how much I love working with you all. It’s been a blast for the last 2.5 years, and the ride is just beginning! We’re getting to lay down the foundation, the DNA, of our church!
Posted: May 6, 2010
Jon's Blog
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Upward and onward!!!
Lead Pastor
Heartland Sun Prairie
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