I (Mike) have been trying to get out early in the morning to exercise before it gets really hot. This morning as I was on my walk, a lady came out of her house to get something from her car. When she saw me she said, "Do a couple laps for me!" I laughed and continued on my walk.
I knew she was joking, but I got to thinking about the idea behind her comment. What she was basically hinting at is that I would do all the work, yet she would benefit from it. Of course, that is not possible when it comes to physical exercise, but do we see that mindset in other areas of life?
How much of our society has this mindset when it comes to social or financial responsibilities? Isn't there an expectation among some for the rich, entrepreneurs and hard-workers to share the fruit of their labors with those who don't have? One group does all the work, while the other group wants to receive the benefits from the others' labors. Now, I'm not talking about helping those in need. In fact, we are commanded in the Bible to minister to the poor, widows, orphans, and those who truly have a need. That is something different. Here, I am talking about a "welfare mentality" where people, for whatever reason, don't take responsibility for their own financial and social health, yet expect to benefit from the labor of others. This mindset puts a drain on society as a whole, and really does not benefit anyone.
Now, putting politics aside, let's take this a step further. I believe this mindset is even stronger in the church regarding our spiritual responsibility. In Exodus 20:19-21, when God appeared on Mt. Sinai the Israelites became frightened and stood afar off. They also said to Moses, "
(Deu 5:27) Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it." In other words, "Moses, you do all the work of going to the mountaintop and listening to God, then tell us what He said and we will be blessed."
And, isn't that the thinking of most of the people in our congregations? "Pastor, you spend the time in prayer, seeking God, listening to His voice; then we will gather on Sundays to hear what God says to you so we can receive a blessing." "Pastor, you do all the work and we will receive the benefit" "Pastor, run a couple laps for me."
Somehow, we have developed the idea that as long as there are people who will study the Bible for us, preach good sermons, and write helpful books we don't need to do anything else. That is sufficient for our spiritual health and development. Let them do the work and we will receive the benefits from their labor.
The apostle Paul, however, says that each of us is to take responsibility for our own spiritual health and growth. He says, "
(Php 2:12-13) Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." It is the Holy Spirit who will bring the growth, but we must do our part of studying His Word, praying, seeking Him and listening to His voice. This requires discipline and effort.
We cannot expect to grow healthy spiritually through someone else's study, any more than we can expect to grow healthy physically by having someone else exercise for us. If you want a healthy body, you must discipline yourself to eat right and exercise. If you want to be healthy financially, you must discipline yourself to work hard and live within your means. And, if you want to be healthy spiritually, you must discipline yourself to study the Bible and learn to hear God's voice for yourself. There is no other way around it. It doesn't work to ask someone to "do a couple laps" for you.
This week we are visiting our son Paul and his wife Kate for a few days. We arrived in Minnesota on Wednesday, in time for youth church. We snapped a picture of some of the kids waiting outside the youth building. (The guys in the youth group had just scraped the building, preparing it for paint later this week.) Youth service was great. Since the worship team was missing its drummer this week, Mike filled in and did a good job, especially considering he hasn't played the drums in almost three years! Paul preached a great sermon, too. 
Of course, we had to make the traditional visit to the Spam Museum. Here we got a picture of Paul and Kate and Levi! Levi is scheduled to make his appearance on September 27. We will be in California at that time, but hope to be back in Minnesota to meet him in early November.
And we had a spent a lot of time laughing and just enjoying being together. Thank the Lord for family, especially sisters!
