By Jim Tune
The hardest part of life, one preacher said, is that it”s so daily. Every day the bed needs to be made. Breakfast needs to be cooked. Dishes, dusting, work, and sleep demand our attention every single day.
The same with ministry. Many of our churches need hundreds of volunteers to operate every week. The numbers vary depending on the size of the church, but every church needs people to show up and do their job. There”s not much glory in showing up faithfully, but without it we”re sunk.
We get tired, though. The thousandth time a husband wakes up beside his wife, he may start taking things for granted. The hundredth time a children”s ministry volunteer teaches rambunctious four-year-old boys, she may wonder if it”s worth it.
It is. Do it again.
G.K. Chesterton once observed how children delight in repetition. They want things repeated, and they want things unchanged. When playing with a child they say, “Do it again!” until the adults collapse in exhaustion.
Chesterton then suggested that God may be like the children:
Grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, “Do it again” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again” to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.
I”m glad God has never grown tired of telling the sun, “Do it again.” Let”s be like children and like God. Let”s recover the delight of doing small, monotonous things faithfully, even when others get tired.
I know a man who is the first to show up at church, even when he”s not on the schedule. He starts setting up. He will do whatever”s asked. He prefers to serve behind the scenes, but if needed he”ll step up to a public role too. He is the most faithful volunteer at the church, but he”s almost completely unnoticed””until he”s not there. He”s simultaneously the most valuable volunteer in the church and the most overlooked. The world needs people like him.
If you”re like me, you”re probably feeling tired right now. You may be wondering if the monotony is worth it. The apostle Paul wrote, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:9-10, English Standard Version).
Do it again. We”re counting on you. It”s worth it. What you”re doing really matters.
Enjoyed Jim’s article. Volunteering is valuable and necessary for building His Kingdom! I believe Christians should be stepping up to help in whatever way God has called them. The question really is, Are we volunteering or are we serving God?