Being Very Serious (Part 31)

There are some folks who deserve special recognition from every church leader and member today and until the Lord returns. It's the folks who volunteer each week to make the church and grounds presentable to the public and comfortable for all who do nothing. It's the Sunday School teachers, youth and children's workers, the maintenance people, and of course the custodians who help us make our jobs a lot easier. I have done them all as a teenager and even as a pastor and it is a lot of work. It takes a special calling to clean commodes, pick out gum wrappers from songbook holders, and in general deal with maintenance problems in the church nobody else wants to deal with. It also takes a special calling to deal with screaming babies, unruly children, and parents who think their child can do no wrong. Those special people who do these jobs week after week are precious to each congregation and pastor.

Now I know from experience that some misuse their position or try and be something they should not, but that happens in every walk of life. Just because it's church doesn't mean that everybody does everything for the right reason. In some of our smaller churches you either don't have enough volunteers or money so the pastor, his wife, and even his children end up doing many of these jobs. I have had to cut as much as 10 acres a week on some campuses and then have people complain because something didn't look right. I have scrubbed toilets and cleaned floors only to see some of my oldest members throw down candy wrappers right in front of me. I know how I felt when that happened, so I can imagine how those who volunteer and do such a great job feel when church folks disregard the hard work they put in.

Yet their labors are not in vain. I speak for every pastor who has a church or church member who thinks he/she ought to cut the grass at the church each week-You are wrong! When that pastor is gone your church will still be there. It's the church's responsibility to make sure the yards are cut and the maintenance is done, not the pastor's. Pastors come and go, but the church remains. Sadly, not enough people are volunteering or tithing enough to hire a lot of things done so the pastor is burning the candle at both ends. He's trying to prepare spiritually for you and also trying to maintain properties and wearing himself/herself down. That's why I appreciate church members who will make the sacrifice to do some of the things they do around the facilities to take the load off the pastor. It's because of you and your works that many pastor's breathe a sigh of relief, knowing your job will be done when they get to church on Sunday or Wednesday night.

I have one word for you complainers, critics, and those who want to fuss about everything someone volunteers to do-HUSH! You COULD have volunteered, you COULD have participated, you COULD have done the job, but you didn't! So if you didn't do what you should have, you have NO right to complain about the volunteers who do theirs. You should be thanking them because without their help, YOU would have had to do the job. And if that were the case it would have been undone!

So again, thank you Lord for the volunteers I had in my ministry and for those who volunteer to help other pastors today. We appreciate what you did and do for God.