Involvement, A Necessity

November 12, 2006

By: Brian Manning

    I was reading a book the other day, it was a book I have read completely through several times.  It is funny how you can read something so many times and yet every time something different seems to catch your attention.  Well, this is how it was with me on this particular day.

    I was sitting at my desk, where I had just finished putting together my involvement list for RECHARGE, and I reached up on my shelf to get this book that I had not read in a while.  I sat down and began reading it and I got to page 145 and some of the things really started to jump out at me.

    The book is called Balance and it was written by Bro. Ira North.  In Chapter 20 he discusses the importance of involvement.  He says that "the key" to getting people involved "is to have a program that is so broad, so deep, and so wonderful that every member can discover his own niche."  How true this is.  We are not all the same so "we must be careful not to consider our work important and all of the other works and programs unimportant," says Bro. North.  Bro. North spoke specifically of the time that they were building their camp.  He said that he thanked a group of workers and they told him "you don't know how wonderful it is to be able to use our skill and our talent for the Glory of God and for the good of mankind.  We really feel like we are making a contribution."

    The  spirit of being willing to cooperate and perform a menial task is essential to church growth.  Members of the church who think they are too good, or too big, or too important to roll up their sleeves and pitch in and become involved in a great and good work are most unfortunate.

    "Of course we want members to attend services, but this alone is not enough" Bro. North says.  I am convinced that legalism and Phariseeism, which is condemned by Christ, is not nearly as likely to happen in our day and time if we are involved.

    Bro. North goes on to say, and I agree with him, that one of the greatest challenges in our day is to inaugurate a program of work in the local church that is so broad, so deep, so important, and so wonderful that every single member of the congregation can become involved and be a part of it.

Because of the Cross,

Brian Manning