Pulling Teeth
I can remember sitting in a dentist chair prepared to have a couple teeth pulled. These teeth were not loose but needed to come out. I can remember the pliers going into my mouth and the twisting and turning that occurred until finally my tooth was yanked out. From cases like what I just described came the phrase, “it’s like pulling teeth.” You may be wondering at this point what this has to do with a church article… Well I must say, this phrase can describe many situations in the church.
There are constantly opportunities available for those in the church to step up and help get things done, but finding those to help doesn’t come as easy. As with any group of people, a small minority does the majority of work, but I am pretty confident that this is not what God wants in the church. In 1 Cor. 12:14 Paul says, “the body is not one member, but many.” We all make up the body and we all have a responsibility to do our part. Paul goes on to say in 1 Cor. 12:26, “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” Are we all doing all we can to help one another?
One of the dangers we all face is the feeling of wanting to do only the minimum we can to help. I am reminded about what Jesus says in Matthew 25:45 when He is discussing what we need to do for one another. He says, “Then He will answer them, `Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.” The reality of being a child of God is that our actions will show whether we are truly living for Him. Jesus did everything for others – including the willingness to sacrifice His own life! We all should be willing to help one another, even if it requires us to sacrifice time or money. Let us not make excuses of why we cannot help do our part.
We are servants! Just as were taught by our Savior in Matthew 20:28, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” We also need to understand what we are here to do, and that is to serve. Certainly those among us that are deacons must understand this due to the fact the word “deacon” means a servant, but we all have a responsibility to serve one another.
Let us all do everything we can to make sure that our willingness to serve is not like “pulling teeth” but that we are all doing the best we can to serve others, thus bringing glory to God.
By: Scott Taylor
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Article
Pulling Teeth
I can remember sitting in a dentist chair prepared to have a couple teeth pulled. These teeth were not loose but needed to come out. I can remember the pliers going into my mouth and the twisting and turning that occurred until finally my tooth was yanked out. From cases like what I just described came the phrase, “it’s like pulling teeth.” You may be wondering at this point what this has to do with a church article… Well I must say, this phrase can describe many situations in the church.
There are constantly opportunities available for those in the church to step up and help get things done, but finding those to help doesn’t come as easy. As with any group of people, a small minority does the majority of work, but I am pretty confident that this is not what God wants in the church. In 1 Cor. 12:14 Paul says, “the body is not one member, but many.” We all make up the body and we all have a responsibility to do our part. Paul goes on to say in 1 Cor. 12:26, “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” Are we all doing all we can to help one another?
One of the dangers we all face is the feeling of wanting to do only the minimum we can to help. I am reminded about what Jesus says in Matthew 25:45 when He is discussing what we need to do for one another. He says, “Then He will answer them, `Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.” The reality of being a child of God is that our actions will show whether we are truly living for Him. Jesus did everything for others – including the willingness to sacrifice His own life! We all should be willing to help one another, even if it requires us to sacrifice time or money. Let us not make excuses of why we cannot help do our part.
We are servants! Just as were taught by our Savior in Matthew 20:28, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” We also need to understand what we are here to do, and that is to serve. Certainly those among us that are deacons must understand this due to the fact the word “deacon” means a servant, but we all have a responsibility to serve one another.
Let us all do everything we can to make sure that our willingness to serve is not like “pulling teeth” but that we are all doing the best we can to serve others, thus bringing glory to God.
By: Scott Taylor