Don’t Waste Time

Yesterday’s blog was about the importance of humility. Only when we consider the needs of other and stop comparing ourselves as better than others can we be real Christians. Today I wanted to continue to concept of caring about others above ourselves. Today I want to talk about building up the Church for the glory of God.

Brethren, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how shall I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will any one know what is played? And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? So with yourselves; if you in a tongue utter speech that is not intelligible, how will any one know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air. There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning; but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. So with yourselves; since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church. Therefore, he who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do? I will pray with spirit and I will sing with the mind also. Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how can any one in the position of an outsider say the “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? For you may give thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified. I thank God that I speak in tongues more than you all; nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind, in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

1^st Corinthians 14.6-19

Thinking we are doing something good we call the Church and offer our time as a volunteer. It can be anything we love to do. We just want to offer the service to the Church. In my nearly thirty years of experience, more often than not, such offers are rarely what the Church actually needs in the moment. Sure, it is nice to have another basketball coach, but what the Church really needs is someone to cut the grass or clean toilets. When was the last time you offered to clean toilets at the Church?

From today’s reading from Saint Paul, you may be wondering why I am writing about cleaning toilets rather than about preaching. Yes, Saint Paul was addressing a particular action of speaking in tongues, but the spirit of what he taught goes much deeper. “How can anyone in the position of an outside say ‘Amen’ to your thanksgiving?” If we take the concept of wasted words and translate them to the idea of wasted hours, in both cases we are not building up the Church.

I don’t deny that it feels good to volunteer for the Church. It feels good to offer your talents to the Church. In fact, we SHOULD offer our talents to the Church, and yes sometimes the Church does need basketball coaches. The point Saint Paul was making was that it was an act of selfishness to speak in tongues that nobody could understand. Likewise, it is an act of selfishness to offer time the Church does not need.

As our Churches throughout the country are gearing up for annual program calendars, pray that your talents will be a blessing to build up the Church rather than building up your ego. Call your Priest and ask what the Church needs. Then if the needs match your abilities, you will be blessed. If your talents don’t match what the Church needs, then pray someone with the needed abilities is inspired to step forward. Better yet, go out and recruit someone who has the talents from God to build up the Church.

If Saint Paul would rather speak five words that would build up the Church, then we can be satisfied with doing the work the Church needs rather than the work we prefer.