White Wave Manifest: Household Chores

(Sam, mowing. Now, about the leaves.)

And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all the people also will go to their place in peace." (Exodus 18:22-23)

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to tech you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food. (Hebrews 5:12)

In our home, there are household chores.  My wife and I will drive to the bus stop and run the chain saw, but the boys are expected to run the vacuum and put the dishes away.  Instead of constant reminders and supervision, it would be easier, sometimes, for us to just take care of it; mow the lawn, take out the garbage when it is overflowing, or wash the dishes.  My wife is very capable of setting the table and feeding the chickens and splitting the wood herself, and there would be less headache for her if she did just that.  If our boys weren't expected to pack their own lunch, life would be much easier for the two of us and more comfortable for them.

However, being comfortable and easy is not the goal.

Jethro, Moses' father-in law, told Moses to appoint other leaders to help judge the people, not so that they could remain comfortable in the desert, but so that they could 'go to their place in peace.'

In the New Testament, the early church is reminded that they need to teach others the faith and care for new believers, not constantly need someone to feed them.

We still need these reminders today; no one person should be expected to do everything and we all need to share in teaching others the faith.  Sometimes, we seek to stay comfortable where we are.  We are comfortable in hiring someone to preach, teach, and outreach for us. Sometimes, we hire more than one person.  It allows us to say where we are and drink milk. And for church staff, it is often easier for them to do the preaching, teaching, and outreaching for us rather than train, equip and nag us to do it ourselves. 

However, being comfortable and easy is not the goal.

But what if we hired part-time staff?  What if we hired the human resources executive to handle payroll and the college professor to teach Sunday School?  What if there was a stay-at-home mother or a retired Grandfather with lots of experience with young children and we employed them to run the children's ministries?  

Most of the time, our churches don't need more full-time ministers. They need less.  Jesus chose tax-collectors, fishermen, and harlots over professionally trained priests, lawyers and clergy.

I am not suggesting that we fire our full-time pastors, just that we don't think of them as full-time. Rather, we should think of them as part-time preachers and part-time chaplains, and part-time visionairies.  This leaves room for others that might be called to preach, or call on shut-ins, or dream big dreams for the church.  

It won't be easy, for church members or for pastors, to share the household chores, but being comfortable and easy is not the goal. It is time for us to eat a little solid food.

Church Stopping. Less Doing. More Being.  

.