Why do so many people react negatively to our writings and talks about staying active and involved as Seasoned Believers? Why is there so much resistance by Boomers and Pioneers when they hear us say, those generations of Believers have the greatest reservoir of talents, gifts and experiences to say nothing of financial resources the world has ever seen?
Maybe they think we are talking in code. Maybe they have been used to hearing Pastors brag on them just to pull them into some activity that the Pastor is interested in. One time a Pastor approached a friend and another fellow about taking, what he termed, a “leading role of great importance” at a Pastors’ Conference he was sponsoring.
They were thrilled to be asked and eagerly wanted to know what he had in mind for them to do. Maybe he wanted them to tell the Pastors about their experiences and ideas. Maybe he had seen their gifts and talents in action and wanted to show case them in front of all these clergymen and they would be in the limelight. No, none of those things were on his list. The very important, highly critical role was to provide the donuts.
Bill Bright is famous for many reasons. One of his slogans was, “God loves you and He has a wonderful plan for your life.” Far too many religious leaders are known by a different slogan. “God loves you and I have a plan for your involvement.”
But God gave us a plan of action that is like that of Dr. Bright’s and it is revealed in Ephesians 2:8-10
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
We are all familiar with verses 8-9. The problem is we stop there.
Very seldom do we include verse 10.
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
It is not our goal to get you to carry out more of our plans. Quite the opposite. We want to help you discover your gifts, talents and call and find a place where you can be involved in activities that fulfill your passion. We want you to find the “Good Works” Paul mentions in Ephesians. God already has them planned out for us so it shouldn’t be so hard.
Most of us have been involved in ministries and jobs to please others. As Seasoned Believers, it is time to find places where that really fits us not just “carry donuts”.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
* Title of this blog posting is taken from a chapter of a book I have encouraged as many as will to read: "Unlimited Partnership" by Lloyd Reeb and Bill Wellons
Also my thanks to Dr. Gary Sweeten for helping me make this posting coherent
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment