EQUIPPING: Left Behind!

“the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost"

Luke 19:10

I purchased a set of jumper cables for emergencies. I reasoned I’d be able to take care of myself in times of trouble, but others are not always equipped to do so. Some people just don’t prepare themselves for life’s trials and tribulations.

I thought if I ever came across any of those poor unfortunates, I’d be equipped to help them. A good set of cables can be used to rescue many people during a driver’s lifetime.

My motives were honorable but my follow through stinks. A set of jumper cables hanging on a nail in the carport is useless! You see, if you don’t take the equipment with you, you can’t help yourself, let alone others.

Sharing our faith is like that. God has given the church leaders to equip it [read “us”] to do the work of ministry [Ephesians 4:11, 12] and for seeking and saving the lost, as Christ commanded us to do [John 17:18; 20:21].

The greatest intentions in the world profit nothing if the equipment necessary to do the job is left at home.

We can choose to carry God’s gospel truth everywhere we go or we can choose not to go. We can also choose to let our training get rusty and fall into a state of disrepair or we can choose to keep them oiled and ready.

I don’t believe God supplies equipment or training that is rarely used.

Christianity, Equipping,
Illustrations, Religion

Ecclesiology (Church)

BACK DOOR ALARM [Various texts; Church Membership]

Chicago-based Aon Consulting’s Loyalty Institute conducted a study to determine why some workers remain loyal to their employers and others do not. The study, “America @ Work”, revealed the following five most consistent “drivers” in workforce commitment:

1. Management’s awareness of personal and family needs
2. Opportunities for personal growth
3. Meeting the needs of the firm’s customers
4. Benefit Communication (how clearly done)
5. Opportunity to keep skills up to par with the job ’s requirements

For more details see ...

The vast majority of church members are also someone’s employee; the church would do well to evaluate these factors in employee motivation and commitment as they relate to the exodus of church members. If the insight had an effect on the church’s back door it would be worth the time. With a few word changes one can see the application.

[“What makes workers stay?” The Costco Connection, July 1999, p. 9]

COST OF CONSTRUCTION! [Ephesians 5:25, 27, 32; Atonement; Propitiation]

Sydney, Australia, built a modern opera house with a design way ahead of its time. It’s a gorgeous building; a real wonder of construction and architecture. It took 17 years to build; the original estimate was $7.2 million – the actual cost = $110.0 million. The Premiere of New South Wales told cost critics, “The cost has become secondary to consideration of the perfection of the achievement.”

You see in his mind the result justified the pain and the strain encountered by the visionaries who accomplished it construction.

The Church is an edifice more beautiful than anything man has ever conceived or imagined and it cost much more than anyone ever conceived … you see, man estimated its construction cost at lives filled with obedient living but the real cost was the life of the Son of God.

After all, in the hearts of both the Son and the Father, the result justified the pain and strain encountered by the One who accomplished its construction.

ROLE OF THE CHURCH [Matthew 28:19-20; other topics, Equipping, Great Commission]

According to the Bible, God has given the job of “equipping the saints” to the evangelist and the pastor-teacher. Scripture says the church is the vehicle of God’s choice for accomplishing that job.

The role of the church in its simplest form is to fulfill the Great Commission. The role of the church in greater detail and in contemporary terms follows: the church is to be -

• a launch pad for the fulfillment of the Great Commission
• an arena for the worship of God
• a house of prayer
• command headquarters for the Lord’s army
• the 7077 M.A.S.H. unit for the care of saints injured in weekly spiritual warfare
• the saints’ seminary for the teaching of the truths and the ways of God to future church leaders
• the school of learning for the saints in general and
• the receiving and reeducation depot for those freed from the bondage of sin, death and Satan.

Obviously other parallels exist to which the church may be related.