Pushing Through The Pins & Needles

This picture brings up a few good points. Though I don't agree with it completely, it opens my eyes to the fact that when it comes to apathy, it's not always the fault of the church leadership. It does matter where a person goes to worship, and you need to be careful as to where you go because you want good teaching and doctrine. But if the people are not moving, it's not always the leadership that is the cause. Yes, many times the leadership frustrates evangelism efforts. But so does stubborn church members.

This past Tuesday I sat down and had a great conversation with a pastor from a denomination I do not normally attend or fellowship with. He is young, vibrant, and has a heart to see God's Kingdom grow and flourish. His desire is to be the best shepherd to his flock he can possibly be, and it shows. But his congregation doesn't want to move. They are perfectly content just attending church as long as it is less than an hour each Sunday. They have been apathetic for generations and in many ways they reached atrophy. Some push back directly to the pastor, while others are fearful. But there are some of their body that are excited about moving forward, and ready to get to work.

When churches have been asleep for so long, some of the body of Christ are numb and have no feeling. In others, the blood is starting to flow and the intense pain of pins and needles has started, but the body parts are afraid to move. But those parts that are ready, the needles are gone, and it's time to get moving.

But, do you know what parts of the body never fall asleep? The core. The vital organs like the heart, liver, and brain. Everything from skin to organs in the torso never have pins and needles. Why? Because all the blood flows freely and never gets impeded. But if you cut off the circulation in the extremities like the arm or leg, the feeling is gone. Throughout the Old Testament it is written, "Life is in the blood."

Now that I have seen both sides of the coin, it is more evident than ever that I will have to write my book about conquering apathy in the church will need to be from different points of view. Encouraging church leadership to take the helm and sail the ship into the uncharted waters of evangelism, and also to encourage the flock when the shepherd and leadership is ready to get out there and save those that are lost. This was a valuable lesson to learn and to see apathy in both sides of the coin.

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