It’s a pain to maintain, right?
I cook. Folks eat. I clean.
I wash. Folks live. I wash again.
I buy. Folks consume. I buy more.
Sometimes I just want to push pause: “Everyone just have a seat, and stop needing food and shelter!”
Many tasks I prefer to avoid, or at best, delegate to others. Toilet cleaning, yard work, stain soaking, gardening, sweeping the crumbs – every hour on the hour hello. Ultimately, these things are my responsibility, though. And it is to my gain to maintain.
But it just seems like so much. Don’t we all contribute to the mess? Couldn’t it be everyone’s job? Nasty pots, overgrown lawns, ruined garments, thorny weeds, cluttered spaces. This is the result of it being “everyone’s job”.
Because “every one’s job” becomes no one’s job. The only way to work effectively as a team is to divide the labor and complete the joy.
In our church, the people who have been doing the “job” of ministering to young adults have moved on to their next assignment. And yet our task remains … to be maintained by those ultimately responsible.
It’s unrealistic to push pause on all youth ministry until the next leader is discovered. Ministering to young adults has now become “every one’s job” -which, if we’re not careful – will become no one’s job. No one has to do it all, or even a large part of it. But if everyone contributes a little something, the young folks won’t miss a beat, and we can all find fulfillment in a job well done.
The most selfish part of me wishes we could just toss some cash around, and check it off.
But we don’t need money. We need investors.
You may need to choose Sunday mornings. You can encourage meaningful conversations. You can serve the breakfast and take out the trash. You can give side hugs and happily listen to the lives.
Perhaps you will choose monthly Sunday evening fellowships. You can offer snacks and a safe place. You can enjoy watching the fun. You can engage with enthusiasm.
Maybe you can provide food for these activities. Munching facilitates mingling. Mingling builds community. You can change the world with cinnamon rolls and pizza.
You might invest a week at summer camp. Sharing life with these amazing young adults will inspire great things for years and lifetimes to come.
You can pray. Pray for the leaders God is raising up, calling out, and sending our way. Pray for these precious young people who’ve been entrusted to us. Pray for a hunger for the Lord, protection against the enemy’s schemes, and courage to stand firm.
It can feel like a pain to maintain, but it is for our gain to maintain!
Unlike the chores around my house, every single one of these tasks is ENJOYABLE. And instead of being UNdone the minute they are done, these efforts have lasting, eternal value!
Undoubtedly, God is leading you to do something. Step up. Raise your hand. Push Play.
Be a part of the blessing today.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart,"
