TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL PASSAGE

DEVOTIONAL

by Elder Chris Beltran

Some time in 18th-century England, Sir John Barbirolli conducted an excellent symphony orchestra before a standing-room-only audience. The concert hall he was in was used for weekday cultural events and religious services on Sundays.

On a particular Saturday evening, in the audience, one of the concert’s sponsors noticed the pastor who was to preach there the following day. He came and said to the pastor cynically, “When are you going to fill this hall on Sunday like the way Sir John Barbirolli has tonight?” The pastor looked straight at the man and said, “I will fill this hall on Sunday mornings when you give me what you gave to sir John tonight; 80 disciplined people to accompany and work with him.”

A church needs dedicated volunteers willing to offer their time, treasure, and talents sacrificially. One of the pastor’s purposes in the ministry is to equip people to do the work and not to do all the work. Hiring Pastors to do all the jobs is never the answer.

A pastor was asked, “How do you define faithful attendance at worship?” “All that I ask is the application of the same standards of faithfulness to our church activities as we would in other areas of our life—school and workplace.” This doesn’t seem too much to ask, is it? After all, we are all concerned about faithfulness.

Would people call us faithful if we didn’t show up at work or our classes four to five times a month? Would the bank say it is okay if we miss paying our monthly amortization three times a year? Will the coach tell us that we are dependable if we miss basketball practice regularly with a team? If our partners (i.e., husband or wife) stay with us during weekdays but are out romantically with another person on weekends, would we neglect it and say that since most of the time, they’re with us, then they’re still faithful? If our WiFi works only twice a week, would we believe that it is always reliable? If we miss worship two times a month and do not get involved in the different ministries, would we consider ourselves faithful by the standard we use to judge others?

Too many events compete against church time every Sunday; your child’s basketball game, golfing or shopping with your friends, sports on cable, and our favorite excuse, “it’s my only day to sleep longer.” Faithfulness depends on our attitude of gratitude. Are we grateful to the Lord for what He has given us? On the other hand, some go to church, give tithes and offerings, and think they have the prerogative to ask the church to serve them consistently. Jesus showed his servant leadership by washing his disciples’ feet; likewise, we should be servants of one another, not having an entitlement mindset. We should be faithful to the call to love and serve God and love others.

Faithfulness does not mean that I go to church once in a while, on Easter Sunday, Christmas Day, and New year’s Sunday. It means showing up all the time and every time. Faithfulness means being an example to my children that when we go to church, it is not because of what we can get out of the service but because we give ourselves to Christ, who gave Himself for us.

We need to be faithful in worship—loving and serving Christ. Not just going to church because this week, our favorite pastor is speaking, or our child is singing in the children’s choir. It is not about the program. There should be no other agenda in our minds and hearts but to come to God’s presence and worship Him in spirit and truth. We do this because we love Him with all of our hearts, minds, and strength. And as we faithfully obey the Great Commission and live out His commandments, people will be attracted and find out the secret to our life change. With this attitude being faithfully practiced by every member of the church, it would undoubtedly be a great way to fill up the church.

REFLECTION

How do we evaluate ourselves in faithfulness in attending our worship services? Are we using the gifts the Lord has given us to serve His people faithfully? Or do others need to ask, remind, and plead that we join the worship? Our attitude reveals what is already in our hearts. I pray we all have this attitude of gratitude as we faithfully love and serve God in His church and beyond.

PRAYER

Lord, worship is all about You, but I treat it selfishly; it’s about me, my preference, standards, convenience, and entertainment. Forgive me, Lord, for my shortcomings. Help me be faithful in my walk with You. Guide me to be steadfast in worshipping and serving You as I contribute my little part to attract nonbelievers in Your family. In Christ’s name, amen.