Workers Need Each Other
Workers Need Each Other
Kim has continued to teach his class of boys. He has been developing his gift of teaching by using it. One Sunday on his way home after teaching his class he met his friend John. John noticed that Kim looked discouraged.
“How is it, Kim?” John asked.
“Not so good today,” replied Kim. “Only four boys came. Maybe I am not the right one to teach the class.”
“But Kim,” John said, “don’t give up. God’s Word is like a seed. If you keep planting it, there will be a harvest. Give it time. Water it with prayer and God will give the harvest.”
Kim smiled. “You came just at the right time, John. Thanks. You have been such an encouragement! I need to depend more on God.”
It was John’s turn to smile. He had felt for some time that God had given him the ministry of encouragement.
To hear Kim say what he did made him more certain. He was glad he could encourage Kim.
Our Relationships
In Lesson 1 we studied about God’s family of workers. Think of what it means to be part of a family. There are many benefits!
In a family, a newborn baby needs the feeling of being close to his mother and those who love him. The same is true for the church family. If someone comes into our church, the first thing he should feel is that he is wanted.
A family is the place where children grow and develop. The same is true in the family of believers, because believers grow and develop when they are with other believers. It does not require a large group for this to happen. Matthew 18:20 tells us that when two or three are gathered together Jesus meets with them there. Where could a Christian worker get more help for his ministry than to be with Jesus and His workers?
In the first church, believers made a practice of coming together often. They joined together in fellowship and shared each other’s needs. They came from an unfriendly world and met together for encouragement, then went out, prepared by their time together, to witness and work.
Besides being members of the same family, workers in the body are partners. Partners share the same interests and the same burdens. They work together on the same tasks. We read in 1 Corinthians 3:9 that we are “partners working together for God.”
Think of yourself as a partner with those in your church. You all share the same goal and work. In order to carry out that work, each person must cooperate. Each person is useful when he or she works together with the others.
But in order for us to cooperate we need to have the right attitude or spirit. When you find a person with a willing spirit, you find a person useful to the body. When you find a person with a forgiving spirit, you find a person useful to the body. A pastor may have talents and be called by God. But if he cannot control his spirit he will fail as a leader.
God does not expect all to be able to do the same things. He does expect us to have the right spirit, the spirit of Christ.
Our Work Together
If someone were to tie your wrists together with a thin cord, you could give one jerk and snap the string.
If there were more strings, however, it would not be so easy to break them. In the same way believers can do things together that they cannot do alone. The body is strong when all work together.
In the Old Testament we read that Nehemiah wanted to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. He knew before he started that there would be enemies and that he could never succeed alone. With the help of all the other Jews, the walls were rebuilt (Nehemiah 3).
Many different people worked; priests, a goldsmith, rulers, merchants, and even one who made perfume. A great work was done that could not have been done by one person.
In the New Testament we read that Jesus chose twelve disciples to be with Him (Mark 3:13-15). He also sent them out to minister two by two (Mark 6:7). We also read that in the first church the Holy Spirit directed certain people to work together (Acts 13:2).
This is God’s plan for the body. The work that cannot be done by one person can be done when many people work together. The pastor or the evangelist could not preach to all the world. Every believer must help carry the message of Jesus to others. Everyone has a place in building God’s kingdom; no one is left out. Some preach, some teach, some sing, all pray, and the work goes on. This is working together.
Our Attitudes
There is a saying in South America that goes like this: One hand washes the other. In 1 Corinthians 12:14-26 we read a similar idea.
We notice in the verses given above that the apostle Paul is teaching us something about the body. Let us apply his teaching to workers in the church.
One “part” might be a teacher. In the same church, another “part” might be a brother who greets people as they come into the church to worship. The one who greets people might think his work is not important to the church. Paul would say to him, “That does not keep you from being part of the church. Who would greet visitors at the door if you did not? The teacher has to be with his class. He cannot be at the door. The body needs you.”
The teacher may think his work is more important We do not really need the doorkeeper, he may think in his heart. He would be wrong to think that!
But God has set each one in the church. He made one to teach and another to lift burdens and make people feel welcome. He has set other kinds of workers in the church too. The church needs all of them. As you think about your work in the church and the work of the other believers, Paul would want you to have this attitude: They need me and I need them.
Ephesians 5:29-30 says, “No one ever hates his own body. Instead, he feeds it and takes care of it, just as Christ does the church; for we are members of his body.” The message is plain. No one hates his own body or any part of it. Neither should members in the church hate each other, for all are part of the same body. When the eye knows that it needs the ear, when the hand cannot get along without the foot, there will be unity in the body.
Each of us should serve where God places us. If we have to be in the important place before we will do our work, God cannot use us. If we are willing to let God use anyone He wills and place them as He sees fit, then we will see the church grow.
We should support one another by praying, sharing burdens, helping, loving, being concerned, being faithful to meet together, and giving thanks to God for one another.
How wonderful is the ministry of the Christian worker!