Someone Needs To Do Something
One day, someone said something needed to be done. Everyone agreed that somebody should somehow do something somewhere. Everywhere there were some things to be done – enough for everyone to sometime do something.
Although everyone agreed someone should sometime do something, nobody saw themselves as someone and so sometime never came. No one did anything. Everywhere things needed to be done, but no one went anywhere. Anyone could have gone somewhere, everyone could have done most anything, but nothing was accomplished.
There are many “everyone,” “all of you,” “whoever,” and “one another” verses in the Bible. It is tempting to see others in these verses and not ourselves. It is easy to say, “They…” rather than, “I…” When we are reading the Scriptures we need to see ourselves in what is being said. We need to look for personal applications.
“I” have to examine my own faith (2 Co 13:5). “I” have to examine my own work (Ga 6:4). “I” need to be a doer, not just a hearer (Ja 1:22). “I” need to put off the old man of sin (Ep 4:22-24). “I” need to present my body as a living sacrifice (Ro 12:1-2). “I” need to be sober and watchful (1 Pe 5:8). “I” need to repent and be converted (Ac 3:19). “I” need to be kind and forgiving (Ep 4:32). And the list goes on and on. The gospel is about personal faith and personal application. Somebody is to do these things and that somebody is “me.” dd
|
Someone and the
Church Most
people are quick to agree that they are to make personal application of
Scripture, but some fail to see themselves as an active, viable part of the
local church. They see themselves as members – they attend assemblies and
Bible studies – but don’t feel like it is “us.” I hear people talk about the
church they attend as, “They,” and “It.” They talk like the church is “someone”
but not them. I know there are roles in the church which some fill and some
do not (I’m not suggesting we’re all the same or all do the same things). However,
as a congregation we are body, a family, a unified group that works and
worships and serves together. It is supposed to be “us” and “we,” not “them”
and “I.” This happens when we are deeply committed to Christ, and this shared
faith causes us to draw closer to one another as a church. We don’t say that someone
should be the church – we are the church! dd |