"And in the morning, you will see the glory of the Lord." Exodus 16:7a (NIV)
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There are people behind the scenes of almost everything that goes on at church. Since I lead worship, the one whose work most impacts me is Dennis. He’s our tech guru extraordinaire. He also makes sure the words to the songs we sing are on the screens for the congregation to follow along.
This morning, my husband, Ernest, our pastor, sat back in Dennis’s little off-limits-to-everyone area. He sat there through the service because our mission team had just returned from a project in another country. They were sharing their experiences with us.
During their presentation, several people in the congregation asked questions, and so the service lasted longer than usual. When Ernest and Dennis started to stand at the conclusion, they both had problems.
Dennis’s legs would not hold him. He made several attempts to stand and then slowly regained a shaky ability to walk. Ernest said he foolishly crossed his ankles throughout the service and found that he could not straighten his legs out at all when it was time to stand.
I’ve known him to somehow twist his ankles around the legs of a chair on several occasions in our 42 years of marriage. A time or two, I have actually bent down to unwind his legs from some awkward position after he sat too long. This morning, he and Dennis looked at each other and shook their heads in disbelief. How, oh how could this be?
This whole dilemma struck me as funny. The two of them have worked on so many projects through the years. Never would I have dreamed that one of their projects would be helping one another stand up.
If you are a church-going person, thank the people who make things run at church. They give tirelessly of themselves every week. I’m aware that in big churches, they may be on the payroll, but the majority of churches are not large. Most of these servants are volunteers. They are the backbone of much activity. They are due a pat on the back and a big thank you.
If you’ve left church for some reason, talk to God about where he might want you to pick back up and try again. If you spend enough time with them, people will always disappoint you in some way. Church, while it is made up of people, is not about them. It’s about honoring a faithful God who loved us enough to send his only son to die for us. It’s about learning from one another because each of us has things to teach; hard-fought lessons where we finally grasped the scriptures in a practical, life-changing way. We need to see, feel, and hear each other’s lessons. It brings us all closer to living more like our holy God instructs.
Church, while it is made up of people, is not about them. It’s about honoring a faithful God who loved us enough to send his only son to die for us.
For more stores like these, check out my book The Power of a Well-Placed Yes: God’s Abundant Faithfulness in a Small Church.
www.jonitopper.com