How Great Is Your Church?

"There are three kinds of church members: effective, ineffective and defective."

A great church encourages everyone to accept all into their midst. There is no prejudice to the poor, elderly or young. There is vitality to each activity that involves all in their programs. It is this kind of church that sees you welcome those who are new into your congregation heartily and without any feelings that they are newcomers who must pay their dues.

Such is life outside of the church where you will gladly welcome new friends, help those who are not as fortunate or who are desperate to find meaning within their life.Throughout life, there are many occasions that may find you doubting that it is good to go beyond what is comfortable, what or whom you already know; but that is the challenge you must meet with an open heart.

Do not despair if you should fail from time to time for that is the commonality among those who believe, for there is not a perfect being that walks on the earth today. God does want us to be effective 24 hours a day and not just talk religious talk, but live a holy life. Sometimes it's easier said than done.

Then, there are also those times when you want to spread the word beyond the borders of where you live. Such is the case of a retired minister friend of mine who could have chosen to stay home and enjoy his retirement. But, this bi-vocational pastor retired from a large company with a decent pension and chose to go out beyond his known territory. He and his wife decided that their last years of life would be better put to good use by helping others on a continuing basis. So, every year without fail since his retirement, they packed their bags and found a place to sow a seed.

They would go to an area that needed help and offer it. This help could be as simple as delivering the word of God through a message or song. He was an avid piano player and would use his talent to rejoice in the Lord.  Both of them would lend their strength to the actual building of supportive housing for those who could not afford it unless through the efforts given freely to them by followers of God.

Without fail, their gracious gift of time and devotion would see them spend many months away from home  helping other volunteers construct shelters and homes while ministering the gospel. They just didn't dream about entering the ministry for God, they actually lived and breathed the commitment. This is the kind of devotion that a lot of people just talk about but never actually implement.

You may know of people in your local church that actually live and breath this kind of commitment, but  cannot devote themselves in this way because of time limits or other family duties. Yet anyone can support such efforts by contributing in different ways to help the less fortunate. Simply put, you can contribute goods, tools, or even a monetary gift to those who can so they can offset some of their own expenses.

This is a time to give in ways that can help whether that be through donations, the sponsorship of a foreign ministry, or it may also mean that you visit and minister in foreign lands. Such is the calling of a few for the many. It may be to help the under-privileged or help restore some dignity to displaced families affected by a natural disaster. The greatness of a church is not measured in its size, but in the efforts of the folks sitting on the pews or preaching from the pulpit.