Welcome to the Majors!

I recently attended a Frisco Rough Riders baseball game with my wife, my brother, and his girlfriend. If you aren't familiar with them, the Rough Riders are the AA affiliate of Major League Baseball's Texas Rangers.

Most of the players on the AA team are in their lower to mid-twenties. They were drafted anywhere from 2 to 5 years ago and have made their way past low-A and high-A ball. Their next goal is to be promoted to AAA, and eventually be called up to the majors. This is the way Major League Baseball farm systems work.

Attending that game got me thinking about this concept of different levels within an organization. It seems that this is how the business world works as well; you usually start out as the low man/woman on the totem pole and eventually work your way up to where you want to be.

Since this is the way most of the world works, I wonder if this is the way people view the church...

Just like there are roles to fill in a business or positions to play on a baseball team, there are many jobs to be done in any local church. Of course there are those who preach and teach and lead music, but it takes more than that.

There are tons of people behind the scenes:

·      Those who unlock the doors and turn on the lights before you show up

·      Those who sit in the back and operate the sound system

·      Those who pass out bulletins and take up the offering

·      Those who bake meals and take them to the home-bound

·      Those who hold babies in the nursery

·      And the list could go on and on

But don't misunderstand...The goal in church ministry is not to start at the bottom and work your way up. Manning the back door and shaking hands is not the minors, and preaching is not the pros. Some are called to preach, some to teach, some to visit hospitals, some to give, and some to pray, but the bottom line is that any type of ministry is major, so if you are in ministry, "Welcome to the majors!"

Every role in the church is important. Every role is vital to the goal of spreading the gospel and sharing the love of God. So don't worry about what your job is. That really isn't up to you anyway; that's left up to the Holy Spirit and the gifts He gives you.

Instead, just make sure that you're doing your job! Because guess what? If you aren't doing it, one of two things is true: It's either not getting done or someone else is having to do their job AND YOURS.

Consider what Peter wrote in 1 Ptr. 4:10, "Based on the gift each one has received, use it to serve others, as good managers of the varied grace of God." The only reason we possess spiritual gifts is because of God’s grace. And these gifts are not a privilege, they are a responsibility. We have to be faithful with what the Lord has given us.

So again, don't worry about your role being important or unimportant. If you are using your gift(s) to serve others (and therefore God) through your local church, then what you are doing IS important!

And hey, you never know. Someday God may call you to do something different; He may gift you and equip you in other ways. But don't consider that change a step up or down, just think of it as changing positions. Even professional baseball players sometimes do that at different stages of their career.

Baseball and Scripture

Rawlings Bull Series

From T-ball fields to major league stadiums across the United States, America’s pastime is back. In other words, baseball season has begun!

Even though I didn’t play it in high school, baseball was always my favorite sport as a child. In fact, I enjoyed baseball so much that I joined a tournament team and played year-round.

Today I want to take a second to tell you about my baseball glove. My uncle is a salesman for Rawlings Sporting Goods, and when I was in fifth grade he gave me a very nice glove for Christmas. It was a Rawlings Bull Series glove, brown leather with black lacing, 10 3/4 inches long. I absolutely loved that glove, and there is no telling how many games I played with it, most of them either pitching or at third base.

Fast-forward to my high school days. I wasn’t playing baseball anymore, but I still had that glove. I just kept it in a plastic bin in our garage with some other sports equipment and used it from time to time, but not often at all. One day when my parents were having a garage sale, I pulled up to our house and saw a customer walking around with my glove! I hopped out of my car, rushed to find my dad, and asked him what was going on. Why did that person have my glove in their hand like they were going to buy it? Why was my glove for sale???

Apparently my parents didn’t think that glove was wanted or needed anymore, so they included it in the sale. But I begged to differ! I didn’t use that glove much, but whenever I needed a glove, that’s the one I wanted. It was well broken in. It fit my hand perfectly (like a glove, I should say). I still have that glove to this day and still use it whenever I play catch.

For me, that glove is a lot like the many Scripture verses I have memorized over the years. Thanks to church children’s programs like AWANA and TeamKid, I memorized lots of Scripture growing up. I don’t think about or use most of those verses on a daily basis, but whenever I need to recall one, it’s there.

It’s just like my old baseball glove. I don’t use it much, but whenever I need it, it’s there and it fits me perfectly.

Whenever I need to make a decision, I sometimes think about a verse I have memorized. Whenever someone asks for advice, I often quote Scripture to them. Whatever I may need it for, it’s always there.

So in conclusion, let me take a second to encourage you to memorize some Scripture. Whether you’re 8 or 18 or 80, what you memorize today will probably stick with you for the rest of your life.

Here are a few tips for memorizing Scripture:

• Memorize verses from a Bible translation that is easy for you to understand
• Start small, even with just half a verse if necessary (try 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17)
• If it is a longer verse, memorize it in parts
• Take your time (don’t memorize it in one day and then forget about it; commit a verse to memory over the course of 3-4 days, or maybe even a week)
• Build your confidence (after you learn some individual verses, try to memorize a paragraph and eventually an entire chapter)
• Let memorization lead to meditation (think about its meaning when you’re lying in bed or driving down the road)

Most of all, I know that when you commit the time to memorize Scripture, God will use it to challenge you and change you. He will challenge you to become more like Him and change the way you view the world around you.