to serve

I heard this story the other day and thought I would share.

There was a pastor and his wife who worked tirelessly week in and week out at their church, a church still in the infant stage, having only been planted (by the same couple) two years ago. This couple wanted to be able to attend a church closer to home on Saturday evenings, so that they too could be feed.

They found a church and had attended two consecutive Saturday services, when the wife turned to her husband and asked him to let the pastor know they were pastors, and that they had their own church on "Sundays". The wife didn't want the pastor to think they were merely bench warmers. Nothing was said to the pastor, but rather they concocted a plan to serve. Not being able to serve in too many capacities, their time limited by their already burgeoning schedules, they figured they could be greeters, and easily arrive fifteen minutes before the service started. As it turns out the church made an announcement that there is a need for greeters and asked for more volunteers. So, who knows the pastor and his wife could very well be greeters at this church.

The moral to the story is not that they can't turn off...because really why should we "turn off." Why should we think we deserve a break from serving others just because we already do so much in "our" pocket of the community. We are the Body of Christ -- all those that call on His name, we aren't seperate bodies (although many would have you believe we are).

I've thought about this story the past few days, and while humerous (perhaps not in my retelling) it illustrates something that I think we too often miss in the church. We think we are bound by the walls of the building, of "our" building. We think because we already serve in some capactiy we can't do more, give more, be more, live more. But really that IS the life that Jesus Christ called us to, and for all those who heeded the call that is our life. We are called to serve one another, love one another, encourage one another, welcome one another.

This couple - this team - this man and woman don't stand on ceremony, rather they are mastering what it means to follow Christ, that in the big and small things of life we are called to serve.