In 2013, when I worked for Mercer basketball, we lost our conference championship. Winning that game was the way a team in our conference could make it to the NCAA tournament. The next year, we ended up winning the conference championship and beating Duke in the first round of the NCAA tournament. In order to achieve that success, everyone on the team had to do their job. Along with 8 seniors, we had 2 freshmen who saw very little playing time, but they were still an important part of the team. We would not have had the same success without them bringing levity to a stressful season and helping other players prepare.
In the same way, we all have a role to play in the Church. In order to maximize our experience, contribution, and impact as a follower of Jesus, we must know our roles and participate fully. Being a Christian is not a passive experience. We need to actively engage in the things we are called to do. Looking at the example of Stephen in Acts 6, we can see a few things that are required for us to play our role in the Church.
1 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. 2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. 8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. 10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11 Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 13 and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” 15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel. – Acts 6
- Prioritize God’s word
As the early Church grew, the apostles could not effectively take care of everyone both physically and spiritually. They had to delegate responsibilities so that they could teach the scriptures well. Preacher or not, all of us need to diligently fill our hearts and minds with God’s word. We can not obey the Bible if we do not know the Bible.
- Be extraordinarily normal
It would be easy to see Stephen as extraordinary and our own shortcomings as normal. We need to evaluate what it means for a Christian to be normal, with Jesus as our standard. If we truly aspire to follow Christ, being normal should not be an excuse to lower expectations, but a call to level up.
- Serve your way through it
We need to understand that we are called to be contributors and not consumers in the Church. When we embrace service as a core part of being a Christian, it becomes a blessing instead of a burden. Stephen did not serve because he was chosen, he was chosen because he was already serving.
The Church is a group of people all working together to glorify God and share His love with the world. If we want to do that effectively, we need to realize that we all have an important role to play.
If you would like to know more, you can listen to the entire message HERE.