Thursday, September 29

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Ephesians 4:11

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Well, it’s football season and everyone is excited about their favorite high school, college or professional team. I saw a statistic last week that said that on the opening weekend of the NFL over 107 million Americans watched at least some pro-football on T.V. It made me wonder how that number compared to the number of Americans who attended a church worship service? But that’s an issue for a different time!

On most football teams the person who gets most of the attention – both positive and negative – is the quarterback; followed closely by the head coach – and rightfully so. But there is a player on almost every team who bears enormous responsibility for the success of the team – who rarely gets headlines and whose name is usually unknown to all but the most dedicated fans. He is the “long-snapper”. The long snapper is the guy who enters the game when the team needs to punt or kick a field goal. His job is to bend over the ball, snap it in a perfect spiral straight back to the punter or the holder so that the play can be completed successfully. Oh, and he knows that on almost every snap, a large angry defensive lineman will try to knock him into next week right after he delivers the snap. He does this job over and over again – and generally only gets noticed if he fails. Nonetheless, his job requires specific skills that are only honed through hours and years of dedicated practice.

In this passage from Ephesians, Paul is not talking about football teams and long-snappers – but I believe we can find the same principle in his words. He is teaching us that God has placed all kinds of people with all kinds of different gifts and abilities in his church – so that the church will become all he wants it to be in the world. Some are pastors; some are teachers; some are missionaries; and some serve in the nursery or by making the coffee (my paraphrase!)! But the point is that the team needs much more than a quarterback and a coach - the team needs long-snappers too!

Sometimes I fear that some people think that because they aren’t called to be a pastor, or that because they aren’t gifted as a teacher or a leader – they aren’t important to the church. Nothing could be further from the truth! Imagine a football team trying to kick a field goal – or trying to punt – without a long-snapper! Without someone willing to learn how to do that particular task; without someone properly equipped to serve the team in that way – the team will likely fail. The same is true with the church!

Notice that it is the role of pastors and teachers to “prepare God’s people for works of service.” Just as the role of a coach is to teach a player the skills required to play a certain position on the team, so it is the role of pastors and teachers to teach God’s word in a way that inspires and instructs God’s people so that they can play the role God has in mind for them in his church. And just as the responsibility of the player is to allow himself to be taught, and then to hone his skills through hours of dedicated practice, so also the role of “God’s people” (or the “congregation”) is to allow themselves to be taught and to be willing to invest their gifts in service.

Thank God for calling you to be part of his church – and ask him to show you the role he has in mind for you!

Pastor Brian Coffey