I came across the
following quote from Henri Nouwen in The
Road to Daybreak:
“[T]he distinction between the private and the public sphere
of life is a false distinction and has created many of the problems we are
struggling with in our day. In the Christian life the distinction between a
private life (just for me!) and a public life (for the others) does not exist.
For the Christian, even the most hidden fantasies, thoughts, feelings,
emotions, and actions are a service or a disservice to the community. I can
never say, ‘What I think, feel or do in my private time is nobody else’s
business.’ It is everyone’s business! The mental and spiritual health of a
community depends largely on the way its members live their most personal lives
as a service to their fellow human beings.”
How often do we hear “My faith is my own business”? How
often do we see people who don’t regularly participate in the life of the
church because they feel that they don’t need the community and aren’t needed
by the community? Nouwen really stabs at the heart of the issue. And it makes
sense when we remember that the church is the Body of Christ. As Paul said, “If
the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’
that would not make it any less a part of the body… The eye cannot say to the
hand, ‘I have no need of you’” (1 Cor. 12:15, 21). I think we have a lot of
hands and feet and eyes that are forsaking their roles because they don’t
realize they are all needed and they need one another.
American culture in particular has fostered the independent
mentality. Most of us have our own houses and our own transportation. We have
fenced yards and separate bedrooms for each of the kids. Our goal is financial
security and self-sufficiency. So why then would we want to give up our
independence and become accountable to someone else for our thoughts, words,
and actions? In other parts of the world, where single-room homes are shared
and families are reliant upon the whole village for subsistence, it is much
more obvious how one person has an impact on everyone else.
Besides independence, we have developed a consumer mentality
as well. “What’s in it for me” is the question lurking in the minds of many
church-goers. Is there an upcoming church event, program, fundraiser, committee
opening? Why should I commit my time to something if I’m not going to get
anything out of it? As we’ve said in our H2H group, the question we should be
asking is “What do I have to contribute to the needs I see?”
In his book Love,
Acceptance & Forgiveness, Jerry Cook gives a great example of a woman
asking about their visitation program because she had a list of people to be
visited. He told her, “We have what is probably one of the best visitation
programs of any church in the world… and you’re it; you are the visitation
committee.” He goes on to say, “Our… program has the simplest structure in the
world: you see the need, you meet it” (p. 105). How much time and energy would
be saved by members of the Body of Christ responding directly to a need rather
than forming a committee or asking the pastor to do something? But that doesn’t
often happen if my faith is my own, my time is my own, and I’m not accountable
to anyone besides myself.
Part of the problem may be that church members have come to
believe that ministry is the job of the pastor and the rest of us are just
supporters. Jerry Cook writes, “Preparing God’s people—that’s my job, and
that’s a whole different ball game from doing the ministry myself. The church
needs to place its members in a healing environment of love, acceptance and
forgiveness. We must bring people to wholeness in such an environment, equip
them, and then release them” (p. 48).
From the warnings in Matthew 7:21-27 (“Depart from me, I
never knew you”), and the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30, I think
many church-goers will find themselves ashamed at the final judgment to realize
that they did not obey the Lord’s commands. How many times did Jesus have to
tell us, “Love one another,” “Love your neighbor,” “As you did not do it to one
of the least of these, you did not do it to Me”? We have material and spiritual
blessings galore, and yet serving the Body and giving to those in need is not
even on our radar.
In answer to the question “What’s in it for me,” I think
there are several biblical answers and this is just a partial list:
- Correction- Galatians 6:1- “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.”
- Comfort- Romans 12:15- “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”
- Strength- Ecclesiastes 4:12- “And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
- Encouragement- 1 Thessalonians 11,14- “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up… admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.”
- Good Harvest- Galatians 6:9- “Let us now grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”
- Eternal Reward- 1 Corinthians 3:14-15 “If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”
- Praise from the Father- Matthew 25:21- “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much.”
I’ll close with the words of Paul, “Look carefully then how
you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because
the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of
the Lord is” (Eph. 5:15-17).
