Sermon Central
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No-Cut Auditions
Contributed by Anne Benefield on Mar 5, 2009 (message contributor)
NO-CUT AUDITIONS
Dick Sanderson is kind enough to give me a subscription to Leadership, Real Ministry in a Complex World. It is an exceptional magazine. This quarter there was an insert that carried a story called "A Cast of Thousands" by Lillian Daniel. She writes:
"At my daughter’s elementary school musical, the printed program noted: 'This musical was written for 15 actors, but it has been adapted to accommodate our cast of 206.' You know what kind of show this was. No-cut auditions, no performer left without something special to do.
It was not a short program."
The church’s calling is to be like the volunteer geniuses that took a script with 15 parts and creatively made room for 206. We take a task that we could simply pay someone to do, and we divide it into parts so that everyone has a job.
Is it efficient? No. But the church cares less about getting the job done and more about the people doing it. We are not in the efficiency business. Our business is to make disciples. We want to offer as many people as possible the chance to know Christ in service and community.
The church remains the home of the no-cut audition. You have to want to get in, but once you are here, we will find a part for you to play. So when I thank God for the church, my mind is awash in the sheer number of volunteers I have known. There are so many parts in this musical. It will not be a short program. It will last from generation to generation.
Sometimes we forget that Jesus started this venture with just twelve disciples, but the script has been adapted to accommodate a cast of thousands. As a pastor, I give thanks for every character in the show.
[www.leadershipjournal.net]
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