Have you ever attended a sports event?  Were you on the team or in the bleachers?  I remember going to the basketball games when I was in the eighth grade.  I had lots of fun and enjoyed them very much.  I wasn’t any good at playing basketball so I was always in the stands as a spectator.  There are fewer team members who actually participate in the game than spectators in the bleachers watching the game and making speculation as to how the game will end.  I was thinking of this the other day of how it mirrors, in some ways, people in church. There are always those who participate in teaching classes, ushering, being greeters, the worship team and other areas of helps.  Then there are those who have a spectator’s attitude; hardly joining in at all or taking their responsibility to fitly be joined where God wants placed them.   Friends this just should not be.  God has called all of us to work of the Kingdom.  This Kingdom Work can only be accomplished to the fullest when each of us takes our responsibility to do our part.  Ephesians 2:21 tells us that we are built together upon the foundation of Jesus Christ, framed together to grow unto a holy temple in the Lord.  Ephesians 4:16 teaches us that we are fitly joined together to supply every joint (meaning to supply every need).   Not every part of our physical body does the same work, but all are very needful for our body to function properly, and so it is in the Body of Christ.  Not every person does the same work as everyone else; but we ALL have something we are to do.

Now if I were to take a vote my guess would be that at some point everyone has been guilty of just being a spectator during a church service.  Maybe thinking about what you’re going to eat at lunch after the service, or thinking about a problem in the family that needs to be discussed and settled, or how you just want to go home and take a nap, and the list goes on. Or perhaps you’re dealing with a more hidden issue of jealously, bitterness, or a deep hurt that makes it easy to isolate yourself and not get involved.  On the counter-side I’m sure also we have been participants too; singing and worshiping God, and giving our tithes and offerings, and greeting our brothers and sisters in the Lord.  I love church; can you tell?  But there is a side that we need to examine from time to time; and that’s whether we are taking our place in the work of Kingdom, or just making excuses and sitting idly by while others do all or most of the Kingdom work.  Please understand – I AM NOT casting stones here; I’ve been guilty in this area too.  And there are times when we are able to do more than other times, this we understand. However we need to wake up and redeem the time that we have allowed to slip away from us.  You’ve heard the saying, “stop and take time to smell the roses”, right?  Well, it’s time to wake up and “smell the demons of distraction and apathy”.   It’s time to take our place in the family of God and do some Kingdom business.  However, I must make it positively clear that our works do NOT get us into the Kingdom of God or keep us there; our works are because and a result of our being IN the Kingdom of God.  Jesus did the work on the Cross, and made Salvation available to all mankind.  Our work in the Kingdom of God begins AFTER we receive Jesus as Savior, and it’s because of our gratefulness for all that God has given us in Jesus.

I want to encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and receive God’s grace to do what He has called you to do.  Go ahead and volunteer to work in a classroom, to be a greeter or usher; and certainly participate in giving your tithes and offerings.  The blessings are great and we mature spiritually so much when we give of ourselves in serving our Lord and others too.

Now if this hasn’t been serious enough I’m about to make a statement that perhaps you haven’t thought of before in the connection of serving the Lord, and this is the idea of “having a form of godliness but denying the power of God” in our lives (1 Timothy 3:5). This is when we just sit by and speculate how God will work things out; and not take our rightful place.  When we, as Christians, do not take our rightful place in the Kingdom of God, we are denying the power of God to work in our lives.  Let’s face it.  The only way we can step out of our comfort zones is to step into faith believing God will give us the grace to do what He has called us to do.  These steps of serving the Lord are only possible with faith and we can only strengthen and grow our faith by hearing the Word (Romans 10:17).

Having our Bible on the coffee table or bookshelf and never reading it, never learning it, never speaking it, never living it, is just a form of godliness without the power of God to live the Word.  Without the Word in us we’re only able to be spectators.  Without the Word in us we will always be tempted to speculate and compare one with another.  We need the WORD and His Power flowing through us to be participants in the Kingdom of God and to minister to others.  We need prayer to cultivate the heart of God in us so we can walk in love towards others.  It’s only when we are walking in love and in faith, that we are truly able to be the godly person who God created us to be, reflecting His Love to others.

So let’s pick up our mantle of the love that God has shed in our hearts (Romans 5:5). Let’s fight the good fight of faith, which really means to walk a good life of faith (1 Timothy 6:12).  Let’s keep our faith and be diligent to finish the plans and purpose God has for our lives (2 Timothy 4:7).