A Place for You in the Church

When you sprain an ankle, stub a toe, or hurt a finger, it affects you. You quickly become aware of it when some part of your body isn’t working properly.

The same is true in the church, the body of Christ. When one is affected, we’re all affected. If one is hurting, we’re all hurting. And if one is lifted up, we’re all lifted up in a sense. That’s why we all need to work together.

A mark of spiritual maturity is when we pray, “Lord, use me,” when we come to church saying, “How can I use my gifts to serve others?”

On the other hand, I think a mark of spiritual immaturity is when we’re irregular in our church attendance, and when we do show up, we think, “How can you minister to me? What more can you do for me?”

There’s nothing wrong with wanting someone to minister to you at church, but when you begin to mature, you realize that you need to get involved and help out a little. It’s very easy to critique, but are you doing anything? Are you involved?

We all should recognize there’s a place for us in the church. God is looking for people who are willing to discover their gifts and start using them. We all have a pulpit to speak from. It’s whatever platform God has given us in our lives—our sphere of influence, our neighbors, and our friends.

God said, “I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one” (Ezekiel 22:30 NLT).

God is looking right now for someone He can use. So will you say, “Here I am, Lord. Send me”?