Raising the Dead~with a Side of Servanthood

"The church is like someone who is in a coma. We know they probably won't recover, but we still get excited when they squeeze our hand." I heard a pastor friend of mine say this last week and I have thought long and hard about this. I know this was a comment made of frustration, but I wonder how far from the truth it really is. Working on a church staff, we often get excited over the least little thing. If there are 50 more people in the 8:15 service, we think we need to start a new service to facilitate all of the people. If one person comes down to the front to pray, we are having revival.

Now, I truly look for the positive in most things. This is a difference from my former life that I am continuing to cultivate. But I do think we do not give our congregations the benefit of the doubt on a lot of occasions. We tend to think they will consistently disappoint us because they are not spiritual enough. I am finding that I learn a lot from listening to just what God is doing in the lives of my "less-than-spiritual" parishioners. It makes me remember that only God can judge the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

So, the question is: Are we dead yet? And if we are dead, how do we give the church the Sixth Sense treatment?

Several months ago I heard this in a sermon: "You know you are a servant when you are treated like one and it does not bother you." I do not usually remember sermons. I hear at least three or four on Sundays alone and by the time the last one comes along, I am really tired and done. I think I am a little A-D-D when it comes to sermons. My mind is constantly in motion, just ask anyone of the guys I work with, and it is hard to turn this off when I am supposed to be listening to the sermon. But this one stayed with me, I guess because it cut me to the core. I like to think of myself as a helper.

I took a spiritual gifts inventory(thanks Tim), and my strong suits were helps, administration, and creative communication--so I like to think I am a servant. I work in a church for crying out loud. But the servant test came a couple of weeks ago when I found myself tearing down tables and chairs to prepare for a youth service. Yes, I work with "youth" now and this is one of the more rewarding parts of my week. But the work that Sunday afternoon was taxing and came after I had already been at church for eight hours. I found myself wanting to complain that the tables had not been taken down by the folks who were "supposed" to take them down. Don't we have people to do this kind of thing? Don't I have more important things to do than to tear down tables and set up chairs so that a bunch of kids can have a quality worship experience without having to worry about setting up for themselves? I quickly came to the realization that I did not. No matter how I try to convince myself of something different, if I ever get too good to clean the church, then I am not a servant worthy of my hire.

So the question follows: How long does it take to become a servant and not realize you are one?