While reading 12 Ways To Be A Blessing To Your Church, I jumped all over it. My subconscious told me what was more important and what I needed to work on, but I’ll start at the beginning.
When I come to church, the only thing I want the church to do for me is to be my spiritual family and help me grow in the Word. I come to church looking to fellowship with my spiritual family, grow in the Word, and be open to the Holy Spirit to see where I can be a blessing. I’m not looking for a handout, favoritism, etc. I’m there to be a blessing.
I remember talking to someone at my church in Florida who said that people always look up to you—whether you know it or not. I’m also a cheerful giver. I tend to only give monetary gifts or a birthday card, but I’ve never considered that I could bless the pastor on special occasions by doing other things.
When I decided to get involved in the church and stop being a bench warmer, I put my hands on whatever was needed. At first, I was overwhelmed by the number of openings and then saddened by the fact that there were so many openings. Why aren’t we, as Christians, willing to get more involved in the ministry? Why aren’t we willing to help hold up the pastor’s hands? One reason is that we don’t know how much help is needed. We know that help is needed, but we aren’t made aware of where it’s needed.
I remember one time recently when I came to the church early to clean, and when I finished, I went into the sanctuary and began to pray. And I was deep in prayer when I felt a tap on my shoulder. Someone told me that the pastor had set his garbage outside his door and needed to be emptied. Did I tell them to “Wait a minute, let me get this last prayer request in?” Of course not. I jumped up and emptied the garbage. As Kate McVeigh wrote in the book, we must “Be Part of the Solution” and not the problem. There was a problem, and it needed to be solved. And I did it.
One thing that McVeigh addressed that I’m trying hard not to do is to become too familiar with the pastor or anyone in leadership. The Holy Spirit has checked me on that recently. I want to be helpful and more talkative, but I’m realizing that I’m saying things that could be taken out of context or seen as disrespectful. That’s one thing that I do not want to do. I don’t want to give place to the devil and let strife or offense come into play.
The last thing that the author touched on was being ready for people who are in need. There are times when more qualified people can help. I always hear people say, “Unless you’ve walked in someone else’s shoes, then you don’t know…” and that’s the reason why I always feel like I’m not the person to turn to because I don’t know what they have been through. I may not have personally been in that situation, but I know the word of God and that it can solve any problem.
