Pay to Pray

It was ministry fair day at my local church today and even though things didn't feel smooth and polished the main idea is solid. That idea is "Do not just come to church to simply warm a spot of the pew but get connected and serve others". Nothing radical or life shattering about the concept but a really hard thing to do at times.

I heard at a leadership conference that to get others involved you need to "sell them the vision" but that vision leaks and you need to constantly refill the passion/vision tank.

So my wife, bless her soul, went to the ministry fair to man the Awana table. She has been stressed over the past few weeks cuz she needs a few more volunteers. One would think that realistically that one or two people would sign up or show interest but nope, nadda, nothing. Although she holds to the fact that she got to connect and chat with people she normally doesn't get a chance to, I think it was a complete waste of time and resources.

Why is it that people do not want to serve others? Is this simply a by-product of our capitalist, ultra materialistic western culture? A by-product that doesn't want to embrace grace or works but one that is simply content to let our wallets even up the score. It just seems like people would rather pay for forgiveness and not owe god than truely comprehend the grace of Jesus and through this embrace of grace be completely transformed to serve others.

What would happen if we, myself included, turned off our TVs, Wiis, DVDs, Cellphones and IPODs and simply filled our days serving others. That could be truly radical.