SERVICE-LACKING
The old adage
that 10 percent of the people do 80 percent of the work is probably true in
many congregations.
Curtis C. Thomas
Practical Wisdom for Pastors, Crossway Books,
2001, p. 118. Used by Permission.
Church
attendance is infected with a malaise of conditional loyalty which has produced
an army of ecclesiastical hitchhikers. The hitchhiker's thumb says, “You buy
the car, pay for repairs and upkeep and insurance, fill the car with gas--and
I'll ride with you. But if you have an accident, you are on your own! And I'll
probably sue.” So it is with the credo
of so many of today's church attenders: “You go to
the meetings and serve on the boards and committees, you grapple with the
issues and do the work of the church and pay the bills – and I'll come along
for the ride. But if things do not suit me, I'll complain and probably bail out
– my thumb is always out for a better ride.”
Kent Hughes
Disciplines of a Godly Man.
Christianity Today, v. 36, n. 6.
The bread
that is spoiling in your house belongs to the hungry. The shoes that are
mildewing under your bed belong to those who have none. The clothes stored away
in your trunk belong to those who are naked.
Basil
Church members too often expect service and never think of giving
it.
Vance Havner
God has not
commanded you to be admired or esteemed. He has never bidden you defend your
character. He has not set you at work to contradict falsehood (about yourself),
which Satan's or God's servants may start to peddle, or to track down every
rumor that threatens your reputation. If you do these things, you will do
nothing else; you will be at work for yourself and not for the Lord.
Author Unknown
Most people
wish to serve God – but in an advisory capacity only.
Author Unknown
There is no
retirement in God’s work.
Derick Bingham
Encouragement
– Oxygen for the Soul, Christian Focus, 1997, p. 151. Used by Permission.
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The
Scriptures teach that the happiness or blessedness of believers in a future
life will be greater or less in proportion to the service of Christ in this
life. Those who love little, do little; and those who
do little, enjoy less.
Charles Hodge
Jesus said,
“I will build My church” (Matt. 16:18). If Jesus is
committed to the church, should we be any less committed to it?
Mark
Dever
Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, Crossway, 2000, p. 145.
Howard
Hendricks once described the local church as a football game: Twenty-two people
on the field, badly in need of a rest, and forty thousand in the stands, badly
in need of exercise.
Alistair Begg
Made For His Pleasure, Moody Press, 1996, p. 35.