At one church one family will not attend unless the grandmother of that family plays piano on sunday morning.
At first glance this seems harmless, petty and childish, but harmless.
However let me be clear, jealousy is a poison that causes bitterness and resentment in everything it touches. When at its worst jealousy causes rifts in the church; this is devastating because the Bible itself says that "a house divided against itself cannot stand". What is more I can assure you that the World, which already view Christianity as a divided religion, is not impressed either.
The Lord cannot use us to the utmost until we get rid of the jealousy we may carry. Remember that as the body of Christ we have each been given different gifts to use for the glory of God and that we must work together in order for the church to run smoothly (Romans 12:4-8). The clock is continueing to tick towards the day when Christ comes back and takes us to the wedding supper, until then it is our responsibility to continue the work he has left us with. This can only be done effectively by using the gifts he has given us.
Think of it this way, everyone is working together to build a kingdom. Some are stone cutters, some are masons, some are supervisors. Each has his own set of tools he has been given. The stone cutters go find stones and quarry them out and bring them to the kingdom. The Masons build up the stones and strengthen them. And the supervisors are the coordinators and make sure everything runs according to the instructions which the King left.
It does the Mason no good to wish for the job of the supervisor when he is better equipped to be a Mason, the same goes for all the other jobs.
Now apply this to the real world. The King has given us instructions to forward his Kingdom. The Evangelists go forth and find people and witness to them the Gospel and bring them to the Kingdom. The Encouragers come beside the people of the Kingdom and encourage, build up, and help strengthen them. Lastly the Pastors are left with the task of instructing and leading the church. And the beauty is that there are so many more tasks to be done and gifts that have been given to us, there just isn't time to go over them in this post. The main thing is that we work together in unity to accomplish the mission set before us, and jealousy is especially effective at throwing a monkey wrench in the works.
One last thing to keep in mind, in the parable of the talents Jesus tells of three servants who were given talents by their master. When the master came back he rewarded the two servants who had used their talents faithfully. The third servant however, seeing that he only had one talent, went and hid it and did not use it faithfully. The master rebuked him and took away his talent and gave it to the first servant.
The point of the parable is this, God expects us to use the gifts and talents he has given us to build up the Church and to bring him glory. If we refuse to use the talents he has given us for him, he will take them away. So use it or loose it.
Till next time, later y-all!
One last thing to keep in mind, in the parable of the talents Jesus tells of three servants who were given talents by their master. When the master came back he rewarded the two servants who had used their talents faithfully. The third servant however, seeing that he only had one talent, went and hid it and did not use it faithfully. The master rebuked him and took away his talent and gave it to the first servant.
The point of the parable is this, God expects us to use the gifts and talents he has given us to build up the Church and to bring him glory. If we refuse to use the talents he has given us for him, he will take them away. So use it or loose it.
Till next time, later y-all!
