significance

Let's face it: everyone wants to know they are valued - both for who they are and what they do. Now the 'good news' about this Jesus stuff is that God accepts us for who we are and not because of what we do. All of us are loved by God. Clearly the Bible tells us that occupation, status and wealth are not the controlling factors when it comes to divine acceptance and a sense of significance in the Lord's eyes. But the Bible also teaches that action counts and service is valued.


Again I am indebted to Carey Nieuwhof for drawing this next point to our attention. "You can tell people they are significant, but until you give them something significant to do, they won't feel significant. Maybe the problem of burnout in churches is not that we have given people too much to do; maybe it's that we've given people too many insignificant things to do."


Let's take it a step further: everything we do in church needs to support the significant goal of connecting people with God. Teaching children, making music, serving food, examining $ signs - these are truly significant when understood in the light of God's grand scheme. God's desire is to connect with people of all ages. Significant people (those treasured by God) do significant things (connect others to God).