Musings from the Ozone

 The genuine excitement was there in the beginning…there was so much help to begin with. There was enough money to start the project and continue it for a while.  So, why did the project lag or slough off after a while and why did the work fall on just a few people to complete it ?  I am thinking, In particular, of a project we started when we pastored a church in Jackson, Michigan.  We purchased an old house in a run down area of the town.  Since we had been bussing a lot of children from the area to our church across town, the general consensus was that a Sunday School annex  in this area would be a tremendous blessing!  We would take the Sunday School to those needy children.  It would be a place where we could extend our love for the Lord to these children; we would give the needy children a snack in the morning, teach them how to pray, teach them the bible, teach them Christian songs and give them lots of love and attention.  Our goals and aims were ideal; our enthusiasm at first was unparalleled.

The old derelict house had been forgotten and unoccupied for a very long time.  After an inspection and the purchase, we faced up to the fact that we were going to have to work overtime to get the place repaired and remodeled before the summer was over.  The house was structurally sound and we felt that our work on it would yield high returns when finished.

School was out and the teenagers of the church were full of high energy. They congregated at the old house and worked like an army of ants.  They hauled out the loads of trash that had had cluttered the house for  years.  Some of them scraped the outside of the house to ready it for painting.  It was a huge house, but with 8 people painting it, it was painted outside  within a week.  The house became a place for a daily party until one day we noticed that the young people were starting to lose interest.  One of them had to start a summer job; another was sick; one by one they all began to offer excuses; some lame, some reasonable.  We adults who were still working there every day realized that much of the work was becoming too difficult for novices anyway, so we dismissed them without blinking an eye.  They lacked vision for the goals set forth by the leaders.  They had no initiative to stay for the long haul.

There were 2 men who did have a vision for the old house.  They were good at what they did.  They knew how to put up sheet rock, do electrical work, repair the old boiler, sand floors and fix a myriad of  miscellaneous problems.  It does appear that those who know how to do things are overworked; while those that are not skilled or adept at things are quick to beg off.  However, there is a deeper meaning to this observation.  Those that know their work thoroughly begin to enjoy doing it.  They have become adept at their skills because they have invested the time, energy, money and perseverance into helping themselves learn the skill.  The gradual increase in a skill brings a certain amount of confidence with each mounting step.  It is just the rule of the game.  Many trainers in sports claim that without pain there is no gain.  But they also have to admit that there are many other pluses which encourage a person to continue putting up with the pain while they are in training.  The goals are established when there is a vision!

Although the work on the old house slowed when there were  only 2 or 3 workers left and the work was not even seen by most eyes because it was done on boilers or electric wiring, therefore, hidden; it was still very important progress.  The day came when we opened the doors to the children in the neighborhood and on our very first  Sunday we had 50 children in attendance!  Those same children could never have fit onto our busses.  They loved the old house and spent many joyful Sunday inside of it. 

We must not grow weary in well doing; in due season we shall reap if we faint not.  Although this scripture does not imply that church work will be done by only 2 or 3 workers, there is a unspoken pattern in most churches which says that 80% of the work will be done by 10% of the people.  People beg off work on the church building, as well as actual Christian duties because they feel  unskilled.  Some are actually lazy, but for the most part, people are sincere in their declaration of lack of skills.  It is a poor excuse, however.  We will never improve at anything unless we begin to practice and work at it.  I have to laugh at my old writings. I still do not claim to write professionally, but I have observed some improvement in my writing skills  over the years.   I typed very poorly and of course old typewriters did not come with spell check.  I grew up using many clichés and I tended to use them frequently,  until one day I began to notice such a thing.   Being  aware of mistakes is the first step towards improvement.  We all can profit by our mistakes if we will recognize them first, as mistakes, then work to eliminate their frequency.  Through practice, we will become more proficient at what ever skill we try to learn.

The church accepts all kinds of workers and if people will just work, it will not matter whether they are very skilled or just plain laborers.  We have people in our church today who are invaluable because they clean the church, they cook in the church kitchen, they shovel the sidewalks in the winter, they scout out sales for the church, they call on the sick, they pick up people to bring to church, they pray for people, they give in offerings and a multitude of other wonderful things which do not  necessitate their having a degree in college.   God sees every act we do in His name, all the way down to our giving someone a glass of water in His name!  He says "if we do so, we have done the same as unto him!"