Ownership creates responsibility. I was cleaning out out a cluttered closet at my church a few weeks ago and somebody said, "How does all this stuff accumulate here? Why doesn't someone just throw it out?" He laughed when I replied, "Because when something belongs to everybody, it belongs to nobody!" That's why executives assign project managers who 'own' the task and who are responsible for seeing that it is complete. Handing a project to a committee will almost surely cause it to languish, unfinished for months, because no one responsible to 'get it done.' After Hurricane Katrina, Wal-Mart had trucks with ice and water on the scene days before the government! There are two reasons: a profit motive and accountability. Wal-Mart stood to gain from getting services to the area and then, quickly getting their stores operational again. And, unlike government work where it is possible to pass the buck and the blame around almost endlessly, in Wal-Mart's culture, if you don't perform; you're done!
Do you realize that God has given spiritual gifts to you and that He wants you to 'own' them?
That could be misunderstood so let me state what ought to be obvious. Gifts are given to us not so we can 'own' them selfishly - "this gift is mine and no one can enjoy it, benefit from it, or share in it"- but rather in the sense that "God has invested this gift in me to use in His service and for the benefit of the entire Church." When we own the gift that God invests in us, we will develop that gift, put it to good use, and there will be results.
Do you understand that He will look at YOU expecting a return for His investment in you? There is a passage in Romans that makes me joyful and frightened at the same time; joyful because it promises reward, frightened because it says that I'm accountable to God! "For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written: ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.’ So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God." (Romans 14:10-12, NIV) No one will take credit for your ministry, that's the great part! There will be no one to blame if you have failed to do your best with what God has given you, either. That's the scary part!
Perhaps all this talk of performance and reward in connection with spiritual things seems strange to you. It is Biblical. Yes, we serve for love's sake. Yes, the Church is a community where we all share. It is quite true that we must never just 'do our own thing,' without regard for others and how we fit together in Christ's Body. We hear those things again and again, and they are true. At the same time, the Scriptures are very clear that God's work is not just 'committee work.' He is unimpressed by lengthy meetings that produce nothing, by 'puffed' reports that impress others but that hide scarce results measurable in changed lived. We need to know that God's work is my work! He's made an investment and wants results. Here's the great thing. Unlike our bosses who sometimes demand more from us than we can produce or who expect great results while providing inadequate resources to us, God expects only what He knows He made us capable of producing, and He has given us every resource we need to get it done.
Here's a vivid metaphor about building a quality life, a temple of God's Spirit. Take it with you today. Ask yourself, 'am I owning what God has invested in me, using it responsibly and in a way that so I will stand for eternity's performance review without shame or regret? What kind of temple am I building?'
"Using the gift God gave me as a good architect, I designed blueprints; Apollos is putting up the walls. Let each carpenter who comes on the job take care to build on the foundation! Remember, there is only one foundation, the one already laid: Jesus Christ.
Take particular care in picking out your building materials. Eventually there is going to be an inspection. If you use cheap or inferior materials, you’ll be found out. The inspection will be thorough and rigorous. You won’t get by with a thing. If your work passes inspection, fine; if it doesn’t, your part of the building will be torn out and started over. But you won’t be torn out; you’ll survive—but just barely.
You realize, don’t you, that you are the temple of God, and God himself is present in you? No one will get by with vandalizing God’s temple, you can be sure of that. God’s temple is sacred—and you, remember, are the temple." (1 Corinthians 3:10-17, The Message)
PS - This judgment is not about 'getting to Heaven.' That's a done deal because of Jesus Christ who granted us eternal life at His own expense! This is about how we live for God after our conversion.
_________________________________
Make me a servant, humble and meek.
Lord, let me lift up those who are weak;
And may the pray'r of my heart always be.
Make me a servant;make me a servant;
Make me a servant today.
Willard, Kelly- Copyright: 1982 Maranatha! Music
No comments:
Post a Comment