At a church I once attended, the soloist was amazing, and at the end of the service I rushed over to gush and thank her for her contribution to our morning's worship. "Oh, thanks," she replied, barely pausing to look at me as she slid from her pew. A few weeks later, I was again moved by her magnificent song. But this time, after the benediction, I turned toward the exit and shuffled out with the mob. My praise doesn't seem to mean that much to her, anyway, I thought.
Wow, who knew I was so needy? Who would have thought that my "heartfelt" compliments actually came with strings attached? Not me, until I realized that apparently I was willing to be a blessing to others as long as they were willing to bless me back. No money necessary, just be sure to light up with gratitude whenever I deign to acknowledge your God-given talents. Yikes.
It's pretty disturbing to discover something like this about yourself. In fact, it can trigger full-scale introspection and unearth all kinds of additional ugliness. I'll spare you the details.
Fortunately, we're not left to wallow in this pit without help, because if we open our eyes, we'll see that God has placed people all around us who really understand His blessing concept. These people don't just bless the rest of us, they set an example of service we can follow, like Epaphroditus, mentioned by Paul in his letter to the Philippians. Paul tells us to hold men like this in high regard.
A man in my church--I'll call him Mark O. because that's his name--is a perfect example. Every time my daughter goes through surgery or is having a rough time, Mark shows up on our doorstep, hands over a Dairy Queen Blizzard, and tells her he hopes she feels better soon. My daughter thanks him with a shy smile but doesn't exclaim or do cartwheels. Mark doesn't care; his only aim is to bless her.
Christ offers all of us the same type of no-strings-attached blessing with His gift of salvation. Bound to the cross not by string but by nails pounded in with finality, He canceled out the certificate of debt against us. How can we accept this free gift and dare to place conditions upon anyone whom He has given us the power to bless?
May 2012 Voter Guide
3 days ago
6 comments:
Wow! I never thought about it before, but I do expect something back sometimes...like we get points or something. You are right -- how dare we put conditions on the blessings we give when Christ gave the biggest one of all.
Once again, you've used excellent examples to make your point. And yes - our goal should be to bless others - without strings. So often, I have those strings too. Thanks for the lesson!
That is so good. Strings attached is not the God way, for sure.
Thanks for that reminder. I am always blessed by your words.
Love,
Judy
Thank you, Anne, Renae, and Judy! Unfortunately, I always have to learn these things the hard way--by experience.
Hi, Pam! I am a friend of Renae's and came over to your blog from Morning Coffee.
Good thoughts... But don't think that your compliment didn't mean anything to your soloist friend. I am sure it meant the world to her. However, as one who is often in that role on the platform, I can tell you that it is often hard for "lead worshippers" (I use that term because I truly believe that's what we are called to do -- lead the congregation in worship unto the Lord) to respond to kind comments. If we are doing our job the way it should be done, and with the heart that the Lord expects of us (like you described), we won't accept acclamation that belongs to the Lord. Having said that, it sometimes is awkward because if we give no acknowledgement, folks think we are snobs or don't "need" the praise. What's worse, if we acknowledge too much, then we are thought to be too self-important. I tend to lean toward the smile, say a simple "thanks, you're very kind" and then move on. I am also guilty of not at all acknowledging applause of the congregation. The reason that I do that is because I feel that belongs unto the Lord and is not for me. That's not to say that I don't want to know that folks thought I had done well. It's that I am really more interested in pleasing God than looking for the praise of men. I hope that makes sense.
I don't mean to ramble here. I just want to let you know what goes through a soloist's head and heart when it comes to this from the soloist's point of view.
We all have gifts that make up the body. It really doesn't matter how God has gifted each of us, but that we each use the ones that He has given us for the benefit of the body and for the Lord. :)
Thanks for allowing me to share. Great blog. :)
Thank you, mizbitz. You make great points. Lately, I've been thinking a lot about how everything comes down to being a servant of Christ, and how included in that concept is letting others serve Him as well...with no strings attached. Sometimes we let everything get tangled up in "niceties" and expectations, etc. Thank you so much for your wise perspective.
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