Ghost on 2nd

When I was a kid, we used to play "cup" ball while our parents watched or participated in church softball. We had a special place on a paved area that was unused and we would mark off the bases. Then we would find a paper drinking cup from the concession stand and wad it up really tight and use it as the ball in our make-shift game of baseball. We'd use our hands as bats and play as long as the real game was going on. We had a blast playing like that but sometimes we'd be short a player or two and need to improvise while batting. The last thing you'd want to do is give up a possible run just because you didn't have another player. So when we needed an extra base runner, say on 2nd base, we'd put the last real player on 1st and have them "advance" the ghost runner on 2nd as they ran. If the real runner made it to 2nd the ghost was on 3rd, and so on. We just didn't have enough players so we improvised with our ghost runners.

The sad thing is that we have to do the same thing in the church. Every church has positions that are required to make the church run effectively. Call them positions, committees or teams, you have to have people working together to make the church work. But many churches can't find enough people to serve in the work of the church. They have to rely on ghost workers to get the job done. These ghost workers are the ones who serve in multiple areas of service just to keep the church going. They may not be gifted in the area of service they are serving in, but they don't want the church to falter so they step in and serve diligently to help the church out. I spoke to a man just yesterday that serves on 5 committees in his church. There are capable and able bodied men and women in his church who could alleviate him of some of those responsibilities, but for reasons only known to them, they would rather sit in the pew than stand up and serve.

God didn't create different classes of Christians. He expects the same obedience, discipline and love from each of us. It doesn't matter if you are a pastor, deacon or pew sitter, you are expected to learn, serve, give and love the same as everyone else. If you aren't engaged in serving in your church, my encouragement to you is to find a place of service and start now. If you don't you are causing others to carry extra burdens while you sit around and enjoy the fruits of their labor. When you do get involved, you receive fulfillment knowing you are being used by God in just the way He designed you. So get started today!

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