It's Good To Have Depth

Ask any sports fan and you'll find out that having the most talented player won't guarantee success.  You need talent, but you also need role players and a strong bench.  Success depends upon both talent and depth.

Now, we Baptist folk believe in depth.  It's something we like to call the priesthood of all believers.  The priesthood of all believers is a pretty self-explanatory phrase that simply means that all of us are priests, ministers, leaders.

I've been thinking about this central Baptist tenant a lot lately.  The economy has been wreaking havoc all over and the church has not been immune.  But my thoughts have not been centered on our lack of resources, but rather on the resources that are not currently being utilized.  Specifically, I'm thinking about our responsibility to be priests.

You have to blame (or credit) Greer for getting the wheels turning in my head.  He said something about getting the advertising folks to create uplifting ads for churches and synagogues and mosques and freethinkers, etc, just for one year, during the holidays rather than promote consumerism.  And I got to thinking that we have plenty of talent within the church already, so why would we look elsewhere?

And so I sent Greer an email, basically noting some of the great talent we have at FBC.  For example, look at the great talents already being put to use in our church: the artistic/design talents (Jo, Glenna, Ann, Rebecca, Teresa etc), the theological talents (Aliou), the financial talents (Glenn, Kelton), the leadership talents (Mark, Bobby, etc) the musical talents (where to begin?), the talents to work with young people (again, where to begin?).

We are blessed with so much talent, as are other congregations.  When will we begin to more fully utilize such wealth?  We've already begun to see our pastor and some other dedicated workers take on the task of painting and renovating the gym.  And I can't think of a better example of what it means to be Baptist.  But we need others to follow the lead.

Why hire someone to do a job we can do ourselves?  It's good to have a leader, someone to guide and inspire.  But, when it comes down to it, we have to get our hands dirty.

When times were good, it was easy to just shell out some cash to fix a problem.  (Well, we were fortunate that it was easy for some, even if not for all.)  Those times are gone.  The upside, though, is that we're learning on the job about what it means to be one of those strange folks called Baptists.

And so I told Greer that, rather than find outside help, we should get the folks in the church with the necessary talents and see what we could do.  That's our job, by the way.  And, then, we could call up the Baptists down the street (and the Episcopals and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and the Congregationalists and the Disciples and whoever else) to see if they had any talents that could be put to use.

That's not an original idea, by the way; it's as old as the church.  Out of necessity, but I think also out of commitment, the early church was DIY.  Baptists, also out of both necessity and commitment, picked up this DIY theme again.  And, today, out of both necessity and commitment, the First Baptist Church of Memphis is becoming a DIY congregation more and more.

So, what are your talents?  In what ways can you serve?

In the coming year, think about these things and find a place of service.  We need talent, yes.  But, remember, a successful team has solid role players and a strong bench.  You don't have to be the best player on the court to make a significant impact on the game.