Lending A Hand

 

By David Bragg       Residents in a Californian neighborhood had been raising loud protests over a dangerous bone-rattling pothole. The giant menace shook and shuddered cars and bicycles alike. Then, on the morning of April 11, 2023, an unusual and hopeful sign of progress. But there were no barricades. No city workers or trucks. No men or women holding slow/stop flags. Just two men, shovels, and a bag of cement. What made this incident particularly newsworthy was the identity of one of the workers: former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (Associated Press, 4/12/2023).     Sometimes, for progress to occur, we have to roll up our sleeves and get to work. This is not a new idea. In fact, it is one of the biblical principles necessary for a healthy, growing local church. Writing to Ephesus, the Apostle Paul observed: “from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:16). The key to church growth is not to be found in gimmicks or compromising the truth by teaching only the things that people want to hear. The key is in each member being willing to lend a hand, or as Paul put it: “every part (i.e. member) does its share.” With this in mind, I ought to be prayerfully considering what I can do to help His church grow.

David Bragg is co-editor of BulletinGold. He may be contacted through his blog: http://davidbragg.blogspot.com/