_PNG.png)
having a common goal is central to healthy community life. the problem is that even if the organization has a stated common goal, it doesn’t necessarily mean that everybody who’s part of the organization has an equal buy-in to the goal.
even in most families, not every family member has equal buy-in to what the family is all about. moms and dads almost always have more buy-in than the kids…especially early on in the life of the family. parents foot the bill. parents take care of house. parents put food on the table. parents clean the messes. parents take the blame.
parents also have the responsibility for passing on the buy-in to their kids. they have the job of teaching values and assigning duty and monitoring commitment. if they don’t, they will fail in the most basic of parenting tasks.
the church is family…and like most families, not every member has equal buy-in to what the church family is all about. but unlike nuclear families, the church family doesn’t have “parents”. at least not in the same way.
do we really expect that some people…maybe the older ones or the ones who have been part of the church family longer… are supposed to do most of the work? or foot more of the bill? or clean up more of the messes? or shoulder more of the responsibilities?
buy-in takes time. although everybody in a church family is equal before god, there will always be degrees of spiritual maturity…and degrees of commitment to the common goals.
there are some who welcome the challenges of serving and giving and the shouldering of responsibilities. there will also be those who need the example of older, wiser and more seasoned disciples to pull more weight in the family…until the rest are able to do their share.
shouldering responsibility in the community of faith is a privilege. it is not a burden. it is the joy of being a faithful servant.
it also requires patience and determination to be a healthy, gracious example to those who follow.
Comments