On this past Sunday, Pastor Benji preached the first of a three-part series based in the book of Ephesians. The focus of this first sermon was on the need for believers to be established in their Christian faith.
I'll begin at the end: in the closing minutes of Pastor Benji's sermon, he shared that our mandate as Christians is not just to move quickly, but to perform productively. He used the example of "rims", ornamental hubcaps that spin like a pinwheel- and, like a pinwheel, the circular motion is only that. It does not propel forward; it is not harnessed for the energy it exerts; it just spins.
There's a lot that can be done in church. I've spoken before in this blog about the crisis of Bronx Bethany carrying its old nickname, "the singing church". At the end of the day, what has the singing done? Has it been a platform for the presence and power of the Holy Spirit? Or has it just been musical "rims"- pretty sounds that take us nowhere? And this inquiry is not limited to music: we can ask the same question of our teaching and preaching, our service to the community, our tithing and giving.
I trust that God sees in each of us a desire to be productive parties in the building of the kingdom of God: "some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, some a hundredfold" (see Matthew 13:18-23).
LORD, please help us to move from ornamental to instrumental!
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