Stages: Contributing

When Carrie and I were getting married, like most couples we made a wedding registry. We registered for all sorts of elegant, expensive pieces of china, crystal and silver. I thought it was all a colossal waste of time. But Carrie’s friends were well-off. To my shock, we got almost everything on our list. We still have it…stored away in cabinets, or set up for display on a dresser. I keep promising Carrie someday I’ll get her a nice China cabinet so she can at least see these beautiful dishes and stemware. Maybe someday, I'll keep that promise.

When it comes to following Christ, we need to be more like Tupperware than like Waterford. There’s no such thing as heirloom Tupperware, is there? God doesn’t want china, crystal or sterling silver saints. He wants something He can use. We’re meant to work, not sit up on a pedestal to be seen. We're saved for a purpose, and that purpose is more meaningful that sitting as passive audience members in a church building while some guy preaches.

As we serve, an amazing thing happens: We find our unique role in God's Kingdom. We discover the amazing spiritual gifts that He has embedded within us. There's nothing that quite compares to doing what you were created to do. When we find it, that "sweet spot" in ministry, we've entered yet another stage in our growth toward Christ: Contributing to His work. This week, we'll continue our series by looking at a man named Barnabas, who made a huge contribution to the early Church...and whose work for the Lord is still bearing fruit 2000 years later. We'll talk about how you and I can find our sweet spot, too.