Why not ME?

During the COVID lock down, our church closed its' doors like many others did.  People stayed home.  Our kids did school online from our dining room table.   My husband was one of many on a forced leave of absence.  We spent Sunday mornings on our couch watching Charles Stanley and other televised services.  Everyone was home - it was a forced slow down.  You would have thought that our church leadership would have used that time to reach out to the various members of the church to see how they were doing. But they didn't.  Maybe that the women in the church would send out notes of encouragement?  We received 1 from our kids' piano teacher.  We got 2 phone calls from a man who was in his 90's and a good friend.   We got a call about potentially doing AWANA online via Zoom and another one about possibly doing Zoom Sunday school for our kids.  That was it.  We were disappointed and feeling like nobody cared so we decided it was time to find another church.   We visited around and found a church we thought would be a better fit for our family.  It was a great place to land temporarily but the kids ultimately wanted to go back to the place they had spent most of their growing up years and we all just missed our church "home".  So we decided to go back to our old (now current) church - and it was SO good to be back!  

I had been thinking for awhile about the reasons we had left and how we had responded to what really was apathy on behalf of others and a lack of encouragement.  As easy as it is to be critical and blame the church or the church leadership though, the reality is that we didn't reach out or try to encourage anyone while we were stuck at home either.  We were as much a part of the problem as anyone!

So, going back to our church home, I made a commitment to the Lord - that I would do my best to encourage others to be more involved with eachother's lives.   I am determined not to be that person sitting around feeling like I wish someone would come talk to me or pointing a finger wondering why someone doesn't meet a need I see developing.  Why not ME?  If I am able, I should be the one to jump in where I see an unmet need.  But I cannot be solely responsible for the building up of the body of Christ.   We all need to do our part and bring our different gifts to the table.   

And another problem I see is that we, as a church, are looking to our elders to step in and meet those needs but we aren't providing them with the resources and encouragement they need.  They are not responsible for doing all the work.  They ARE responsible for leading and for teaching US how to live Godly lives.  They are to be an example to us for how to live but they are human too.  If they don't live up to Biblical standards or if they fail to lead as they should, we are NOT off the hook!  We are responsible for following God's will for our lives above all else.  And the greatest commandments in the Bible are to first love God with our whole being and then love our neighbors. The Bible does not say we are supposed to do that only if our church leaders are excellent at it.  

So I am to listen to the Lord and follow His lead regardless of what happens around me.  I am to love and serve and do my best to motivate others to love and serve in the way they have been gifted by God.  I am confident the Lord will provide the strength, energy and means for anything he requires of us.  So I say now " Here I am!  Why not send me?"