Why don't people say 'yes' to building the church?
(I'm not talking about 'bricks and mortar'. If you don't know what I'm talking about, click here for yesterday's blog post and here to watch yesterday's service.)
The reasons are many, but they're all the same, too. It boils down to this: We allocate our time based on what we feel is most valuable.
- We go to our kids' ballgames because we want to support them and be good parents.
- We work to provide a comfortable life for ourselves and the one's we love.
- We do yardwork and paint the house so our stuff doesn't fall apart.
- We vacation, watch the game, play golf, work a 2nd job, change the oil, cook dinner, sleep, feed the chickens and home school, drive them to school, join the PTA at school...you get the picture.
All of these things we do because we feel they add more value than the other things we could do, but chose not to.
So, what's the motive behind a believer in Jesus who isn't a builder of Jesus' church? One word:
Value
We have not connected the dots very well. We haven't done enough to show them that building the church should make the cut. We haven't shown them that building the church is worth the sacrifice of moving other things that they could otherwise do.
Sure, there is the raw, unedited command that God gives us. The Bible (especially the New Testament) if filled with this calling. Paul's example in 1 Cor 9, for example. His plea in Romans 12:1. His calls for us to die to our own desires and live for Christ in 2 Cor 5:15. And Jesus' words about our life in Him in John 15:5.
But I don't think most of us can sustain our calling, long term, without a regular reminder that our sacrifice to build the church produces real life change. We're making a difference, but we're losing ground if we don't remind people about that. The work is too hard, and it's easy to lose steam.
Tomorrow, I will list some of the church-building-type things we do at PCC, and how they make a difference.
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