He doesn’t need you but we do

I lead an evening service at the church I attend. I habe been doing it for several years now. I’ve taught my through the books of James and Jeremiah. I taught a nice series on great prayers in the Bible, at least I thought it was nice. I did a series on Extreme Faith.

We get together on most Sunday nights at 6 PM and sing a few hymns out of the old hymnals that have been there since Gutenberg ran his printing press. Ok they’re not that old but you get the idea. After that I preach for 30-40 minutes, we pray and dismiss. It’s a very typical baptist Sunday evening service. We started it because there was a demand for a traditional type of service in the church. Despite the so called demand I have to say attendance has been consistently abysmal.

This has been one of the fiercest battlegrounds in my life between Worthless and Worthwhile. Regular readers will know that the struggle between thee two,has touched every aspect of my life and that one of the reasons for this blog is in response to this war. It’s a way for me to actively participate in my own mind. I have had to continually make myself do the work of preparing for this Sunday night service. Worthless has been relentless in his pressure to quit and if I were to measure success by attendance I would.

I have come to an understanding though that all of the work of being prepared is not for those that attend but rather for me. Yes if you choose to be there I believe that you will be blessed by the teaching. I know that I have become a better teacher over the years that I’ve been doing this. But regardless of whether you come or don’t I am learning more and more both about myself and God.

The series I’m in right now is the book of Romans. This has been a very long series as you can imagine. It seems like just about every verse contains some life changing power. It has been extremely powerful for me. I have become a better preacher and a better student as a result of this study. I have reached chapter 12 and of course in God’s kingdom the timing of reaching this chapter has been perfect.

I have been able to see the transformation that God has led me through by the power of the Holy Spirit. I have been led to examine the spiritual gifts that I have been given and evaluate whether or not I am using those gifts in a way that is useful to the kingdom. I understand better that the gifts that I have are not for me but for those around me. If I’m not using them as intended I’m not really hurting God, he doesn’t really need my help after all. No if I’m not using them I’m hurting you. Let that sink in for a minute.

Every believer has been given spiritual gifts. Those gifts are for the benefit of the people around you. They are for the benefit of the church. The church is the body of Christ. Your gifts are the way you participate in the proper functioning of the body. If you are not using the gifts that you have been given you are hurting the people that need you the most. If you take your gift and go home you are abandoning those that need you.

Youre not abandoning God, you can’t really do that. You are abandoning us.