(Even When You Don’t Like Crowds)
I do NOT like crowds.
I can feel myself losing energy and getting anxious the longer I’m in a crowd.
This week at my church, we had our Vacation Bible School(VBS) with more than 130 children and scores of volunteers.
Since today is the last day, I thought I would share some thoughts that occurred to me this week.
Why We Do Things We Are Uncomfortable With?
To be honest, the only reason I have volunteered to serve at VBS was because my wife was the Director for the first 6 years. I, as a loving husband, will do whatever I can to help her.
When I started working for myself in 2012, I was “volun-told” that I would be happy in that year’s VBS and asked what job I’d like to have.
After the 2018 VBS edition, my wife stepped down from being the director. Then COVID hit.
We restarted VBS this year and as usual, I’m running the Mac with the slides and videos for the worship time.
I am high up in the balcony, away from the throng of people. I’m there, but I’m not in the mix of humanity.
As a person that has worked on Macs for years and who worked for a Fortune 1000 company creating PowerPoints, I could use my skills and abilities to help my church share the Gospel with all those kids and their families
Finding Our Gifts To Serve
Ministry is not designed to be a burden.
Ministry is to be done cheerfully and based on our own skills and abilities. These are given to us at birth.
Some skills and abilities are natural. We grew up doing certain activities that helped us improve on “natural” ability.
Other skills and abilities are supernatural. We receive these when we are born of the Spirit. That is to say when we become believers and disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We all have different roles according to Scripture. In Ephesians 4:11-13a we read:
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God
There are other ways to interpret verse 11.
If we look at Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, we see in 1 Cor 12:12:
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
Look at your life.
- What areas do you excel in?
- Can you teach?
- Can you make food?
- Can you pick things up and put them down?
- Can you change a diaper?
- Can you rock a baby to sleep in a rocking chair?
- Can you count money
- Can you decorate?
- Can you sweep a floor
- Can you do data entry
- Can you walk from one place to another>
- Can you smile?
If you can do one or more of these, you can help out in VBS.
How Can Serving Share Your Faith
Sharing our faith in Jesus does not need to be scary nor be a theological discourse.
One of the men, Greg, that I worked with at VBS scheduled part of his vacation time around VBS.
He did it for years. Guess what? His boss knew that he was a Christian, that he would be helping out at VBS, and he shared with his boss what the themes have been.
This conversation with his boss was an easy way to share his faith. His fellow workers also knew when he is off doing VBS, prompting more conversations.
Greg died last December but I still caught a glimpse of him working the soundboard once or twice this week.
A Quick & Easy Way To Present The Gospel
According to various surveys, the overwhelming majority of evangelical Christians will not share their faith.
Why?
Most are scared. They fear something, some sort of Goliath.
Using The 10 Commandments
Don’t worry, you don’t need to know all 10, or their order. You just need to know about three.
The more you know, the easier it would be, but let’s just go with three.
George: Hi Martha, here’s my time off request form.
Martha: Ok. Thanks. What do you have planned?
George: I’ll be volunteering at my church’s Vacation Bible School.
Martha: Bible school?
George: Yup. I volunteer during the week since they normally have a few hundred kids and I love being able to help out.
Martha: Ok, whatever you want. Sounds like a waste of time off.
George: Really?
Martha: Yes. Really. If church and faith make you happy, so be it. To me, it’s just a bunch of, well, you know.
George: Yeah, I know. I used to think the same thing. Until I understood it better.
Martha: What do you mean?
George: I thought I was a good enough person to get into heaven. But I wasn’t.
Martha: Really? You seem like a nice enough person.
George: Oh, I am(said with a smile). The problem is that I wasn’t and will never be perfect.
Martha: Why do you need to be perfect? No one can be perfect.
George: Well, God demands perfection to get into Heaven. He is holy, righteous, and without sin.
Martha: So. What’s that got to do with us?
George: You familiar with the 10 Commandments?
Martha: You mean the movie with Charlton Heston as Moses?
George: Well sort of. The movie isn’t completely accurate but for the sake of discussion, sure.
Martha: What about it?
George: Remember he had those stone tablets?
Martha: Sure.
George: Those 10 Commandments were to show us how far we are from being perfect.
Martha: How so?
George: Have you ever stolen anything?
Martha: No. Not really
George: Not even a paperclip from the office?
Martha: Well, OK. Maybe, as a kid or something
George: OK. According to Scripture, and not me, that makes you a thief.
Martha: That’s kind of harsh.
George: I know, but as I said, that’s what Scripture says. Did you ever lie?
Martha: Probably. Maybe when I broke curfew as a kid or something.
George: Guess what? Scripture says you are a liar.
Martha: But it was just a little white lie.
George: Nonetheless, if you say one lie or a million, you are still called a liar by Scripture.
Martha: That doesn’t seem fair.
George: Depends on your point of view.
Martha: What?
George: If you had a single drop of poison that could kill you in an instant. Scientists agree that 1 nanogram per kilogram (10-7g) of botulinum toxin, would kill a 155-pound person. Would you want to risk eating something where 1 nanogram of this was put in?
Martha: No.
George: Well that’s what sin does to us. It kills us and any chance of getting into Heaven based on our “good deals”.
Martha: But most people aren’t that bad. I’m not.
George: But you did just agree that you lied and stole. Scripture says that you’re a liar and a thief. Since God only allows perfection into Heaven, most won’t get in.
Martha: That’s not fair. How can anyone live a perfect life?
George: No one can. The only one that did was Jesus Christ.
Martha: What’s that got to do with anything.
George: If you were standing in front of a judge and you were guilty of a crime, like drug dealing, can you tell the judge to let you go because it’s been a long time since you’ve done your last drug deal? The answer is no. The same thing with God, He is a holy and just God. Do you think God should let murders and thieves off the hook even if it has been a long time since they last murdered or stolen?
Martha: No.
George: Well, we’re like that defendant. We all stand convicted and are to receive the punishment that we deserved (go to jail). But all of a sudden, someone comes along and pays your fine or offers to serve your time. That’s what Jesus did for you.
Martha: What do you mean?
George: Jesus paid the fine for your sins. When we celebrate Christmas, we are celebrating that Jesus came in the flesh to live a perfect life. When we celebrate Good Friday and Easter, we are celebrating that died for our sins on the cross, and He rose from the dead. He will give eternal life to all those who believe in Him. To receive eternal life all you have to do is put your trust in Jesus the same way that you would in a parachute when jumping off a plane. That parachute is going to save your life when you jump off the plane. Likewise, you are trusting that Jesus will save your life when you go into eternity. Repent of your sins. That means we make a u-turn or change your mind. So abandon your sins and turn towards God.
Salvation & The Next Steps
Sharing the Gospel is what we are called to do. The Holy Spirit will convict the person.
If they are convicted and agree to turn their life over to Jesus and make Him Lord and Savior, we should pray with and for the person. Make sure to help them find a place where they can be spiritually fed.
If they don’t have a Bible, they can download a Bible app. I prefer a modern translation like English Standard Version (ESV). Their app is free.
I’d recommend having the person read the Gospel of John. After that, the Gospel of Luke and then Acts.
Follow up with them frequently.
Help them find a Bible-preaching church, maybe yours.
Hi Eric,
I enjoyed reading your blog. I liked how you presented the list of questions to ask yourself. Also, I didn’t know that Carrie has been the Director since 2005. Wow! I have a list of things on my end that need improvement, but I’m so glad your wife is open to my input. Carrie has a gift to be able to meet with, talk with, coordinate with many people to get VBS off the ground and into the galaxy (well, at least this year into the galaxy, LOL). It is late. I should be sleeping. Ignore my errors. Thank you! 😀
The good news Deb is that we can always improve on things. When it comes to what we do in life, remember that we shouldn’t compare our beginnings to someone else’s middle. People that have been doing things for years have developed the ability to make changes on the fly that seem to work (at least now) because they’ve made decisions before and some of those decisions were successful but some were “learning experiences”.
Good job Eric. Been very busy as of late. I’ve been in those conversations before as well. As you are well aware, It is comforting to know that we are only messengers and that the Holy Spirit is the one who ultimately convicts and changes us. I also have been encouraging people who have made the first step (the decision to follow) to get into a close relationship with someone who will guide them in their faith process. We’re never done growing in our depth of following the Lord until He takes us home. Something that has bothered me for years are the people who feel one decision/statement in their live (without any changes or obedience) makes them feel they are a follower of Jesus…I know that we will never know who is or is not a Christ follower on this earth, but scripture is clear, our fruit demonstrate our faith. Thanks for writing this Eric and hope you continue to listen to Carrie! LOL. God bless brother
Thanks my friend. I so agree that we are the messengers. We are also the ones to continue to make disciples. The Holy Spirit works in the heart and mind of the believer, but we need to actively be a part of it. We can’t sit back and take it easy. We need to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.