Several years ago, I listened to a conference speaker wax eloquent about the excitement of life as an “epic” adventure. In colorful language he described the thrill of storming castles, rescuing damsels in distress, and slaying dragons. It was amazing. After he finished, the next speaker came up and good naturedly asked, “And who takes out the garbage?”
It’s so easy to get caught up in the thrill of living an “epic” life, or at least of portraying it that way to others. We can all too easily fall into the trap of thinking our lives are somehow less than others because we’re not on an exciting, thrilling, dangerous, or, even better, glamorous adventure. Not too many are telling grand stories or posting snaps about cleaning toilets, digging ditches, balancing checkbooks, or changing diapers.
For the last two weeks we’ve quaoted Jesus’ words in Mark 10:42-45, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Servanthood or, as Thomas Sorrentino says, “followership” must be at the heart of leadership.
For the last two Sundays we’ve looked at church leadership and “How it works”. The first week we talked about how we’re all part of the body of Christ and need to follow His example of laying down our lives for others. Last week we looked at the role of pastors and elders and how they need to follow Jesus the Great Shepherd.
This Sunday we’ll look at the New Testament office of “Deacon”, which literally means “Servant”. We will look at how they are different from other servants and how we go about identifying, qualifying, and confirming the men and women God calls to serve in this way. I’m happy to announce that starting this Fall, Lord willing, we’ll be calling and appointing Deacons at Valley Church. We also have some VERY exciting news about our church staffing and some changes that are right around the corner!
See you Sunday… now I need to go take out the trash! 😉
In Christ,
Kurt