2 replies to this topic

[childofrevival]

A child was once given a game in which he had to put various shaped pegs into holes on a board. He was getting very frustrated until his father realized that the manufacturer had enclosed the wrong board in the box and that few of the pegs would fit. A few hours later, after he had used his router to cut new holes in another board, the lad was happily fitting pegs into the holes appropriate to each one.

I recently attended a church-growth seminar in which plans were being made to reach the local community, for which a community profile had already been obtained. Programs were then designed appropriate to that community and church members were being persuaded to 'fit in ' to those programs. In other words, we were designing a board (outreach) with various holes cut into it (ministries) into which we would endeavor to fit our pegs (members). Very few people seemed to be 'cut out' for the ministries they were asked to fill and soon the pastor had much difficulty in persuading his people to take on such.

When are we going to take a profile of the pegs whom the manufacturer (the Lord) has placed in our church, consider their shapes (gifts) and then fit them into a ministry designed appropriate to their burdens? It's about time we let the Lord build His church with the the pegs He has placed there, with the 'burdens' He has placed upon them (Gal 6:5 with Matt 11:29) and the unique shapes (gifting - see 1 Cor 12:11) that He has placed on each one.

Fellow Pastors, isn't it about time we started to "equip the saints for the work of ministry" as is our calling (Eph 4:12), fitting them into the manufacturer's board, instead of trying to fit them in to our man-made, wrong-shaped holes?

[elizabethcog]

Whether you are that round peg or the square one both are made by the Lord and He will use them for His work,i like your thoughts =D

[Lori Smith]

Childofrevival,

Wow, you've really spoken about something that is dear to my heart. Indeed, God calls and equips us; however, we often find ourselves in churches that try to call us away from our calling. The Lord once put it to me this way: Church has become like Tropicana orange juice. What He was telling me is that instead of allowing natural fruit, the church pasteurizes us and makes us into a monochromatic blend of something only resembling real fruit juice. We are like that board game you described and we are all pasteurized in order to be players in the game. However, what the Holy Spirit creates is fresh fruit that is birthed out of our union with God and supplied with gifts from the Holy Spirit. This real fruit is naturally sweet and will bless many if God is allowed to have His way. Unfortunately, we've developed Christian cultures instead of God centered environments where God is allowed to freely mold and shape us and send us.

Hope this makes sense! I've noticed that God speaks to each of us in ways that we can understand, but others don't necessarily get the picture when we relay it. Have a blessed day!

Lori