INTRODUCTION
Every year the folks at Merriam-Webster pour over thousands of publications of all sorts in search of new words or new definitions of old words.
And every year they find and include many such words in the latest editions of their dictionaries.
In 1982 a new word was added to the English Dictionary. It was added because of the amount of usage it received in the press and other places in the 2 or 3 years preceding that year.
That word? Couch potato!
Merriam-Webster defines a couch-potato as “a person disinclined to activity or exertion, esp. one who spends a great deal of time watching television.”
I’ll wager that as soon as I said that many of you pictured someone you know whom you consider a couch potato
That image in your mind probably includes several common points
The person you’re picturing probably has a remote in his/her hand
They are probably sweating
It’s either late at night or in the middle of a very hot humid day
I’d guess they have something to drink in one hand and a bag of chips in the other
And no doubt they have a blank stare on their face
We live in a world that is beset with many problems that have something of alike to the couch potatoes around us
Heart disease is at an all time high
Cholesterol is up
Productivity is down
In this information age, we don’t read as much as we used to
As a result we don’t write or speak as well as we used to
Grades in school are lower
Crime is higher
I’m not here to advocate the destruction of your TV set or ever doing away with chips and salsa while watching QVC at 2am
Rather, tonight I want to take note of a similar problem within the church at large
The problem can be summed up in a new word
Pew Potato
A pew potato is a Christian who makes his way into the sanctuary at every available opportunity to sit and watch what’s going on while snacking on his or her religion
Probably all of us have played the part of a pew potato at some point in our lives
And like the couch potato we are disinclined to Christian activity or exertion
For many Christianity is a spectator sport
They come and watch what’s going on and never involve themselves in the working of the kingdom
Let’s face it...service is not usually fun
It’s hard to put ourselves at bay and serve others
Especially when we’re talking about working in the nursery
Or teaching a Sunday school class
Or opening doors
Or picking up dropped bulletins after service
Or filling communion cups
Or whatever
And like the couch potato suffering from ill health, the body of Christ suffers and becomes ill when we allow ourselves to become pew potatoes
And they do this for a number of reasons
1. They don’t feel they have anything to offer
2. The work of the ministry is to be done by professional full time clergy/pastors
3. All the work is currently being done and when a slot opens up, they figure they’ll jump right in
4. The positions of service that are available do not fit my gifts
5. I’m too old
6. I’m too young
7. To offer my services would be prideful
8. The available jobs are not very appealing
9. Etc
10. Etc
I’d be a liar if I said some of those things had never crossed my mind
But the fact is none of those are very good reasons for not getting out of the pew and into a place of ministry
There are some excellent reasons why we should fight the pew potato syndrome and get into a place of service
WHY SHOULD WE SERVE OTHERS?
1. BECAUSE WE WERE CREATED FOR SERVICE
Ephesians 2:10 “It is God Himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus. Long ago He planned that we should spend these lives in helping others.” (LB)
Circle “long ago”.
The Bible says that even before you were born, God planned a life of service for you.
The reason why so many people are miserable today,
feel empty is because they’ve missed the point of life.
The Bible says that long ago God planned that you and I should serve others
As I serve others,
my own needs are met and
as I give my life away,
I find it.
You were created for service.
2. IT PROVES THAT I BELONG TO CHRIST
Romans 7:4 “You are part of the body of Christ and now you belong to Him in order that we might be useful in the service of God.” (GN)
God says that the way that you know that you’re a part of the body of Christ is that you serve others.
It’s the proof.
A non-serving Christian is a contradiction.
There’s no such thing.
3. SERVING OTHERS IS THE WAY TO SERVE GOD
Colossians 3:23-24 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord and not for men. It is the Lord you are serving.” (NIV)
No matter what you’re doing, who are you doing it for?
You’re doing it for the Lord.
Matthew 25:40 Jesus said, “What you have done for the humblest of My brothers you have done for Me.” (PH)
Basically He’s saying “When you feed and cloth others, then you feed and clothe Me.”
Humble, willing service to others is the same thing as service to God
4. BECAUSE I OWE GOD EVERYTHING
Romans 12:1 “Because of God’s great mercy to us, offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God dedicated to His service and pleasing to Him.”
The reason why I serve the Lord is because of what God’s done for me – because of His mercy.
When I think of what Jesus Christ has done for me,
the sacrifice that He’s made for me,
There is no sacrifice that I can make for Him that will ever compare.
Even if I never got any reward for the service that I do for the Lord, I owe Him my service.
The fact that He saved me,
He made me His,
I’m going to go to heaven when I die,
He forgave all my sins.
So I give Him my life.
Because I owe him everything
5. BECAUSE IT’S THE BEST USE OF MY LIFE
1 Corinthians 15:58 (Good News) “Keep busy in your work for the Lord, since you know that nothing you do in the Lord’s service is ever without value.”
If you’re in Children’s ministry and you change a diaper, it’s not without value.
If you pick up a piece of trash on Sunday morning because you say, “Someone walking in who needs to know Jesus might be turned off by this,” that’s not worthless.
It’s of value.
If you walk into a restroom and you see paper spread out all over and you pick it up thinking, “Some visitor coming in here might be offended by this,” nothing you do is without value if you do it for the Lord.
The Bible says, whatever you do,
since you do it as to the Lord,
it all counts.
When I go home and play with my kids that’s as important a service as preparing a sermon.
When I take out the garbage or do the dishes for Tina so she can go do something, that’s just as significant service as when I’m leading a MAPS Team
because it all counts in God’s eyes.
It’s not so much what you do, it’s your heart and how you do it.
What is my attitude?
So there’s no insignificant service in God’s eyes.
It’s not like being a singer on the stage on Sunday morning is more important than stuffing bulletins.
Or stuffing bulletins is more important than parking cars.
Or parking cars is more important than leading the third grade class.
The Bible says that nothing you do in the Lord’s service is ever without value.
When you minister
Even in the smallest way
you’re making an impact for eternity.
When you do other stuff
that won’t count five years from now, much less for eternity.
It is the best use of my life to serve other people.
If I didn’t believe that, I’d get out of the pastorate and go make a million bucks somewhere.
I’d go start a business,
make a million bucks,
retire and
go fishing or something
The fact is, what counts is giving your life away.
That’s why Jesus said, “Whoever want’s to find his life will first lose it for my sake
6. BECAUSE IT MAKES LIFE MEANINGFUL
Jesus said in Mark 8:35 (Living Bible) “Only those who throw away their lives for My sake and the sake of the good news will ever know what it means to really live.”
I don’t pity people who are up to their neck in service.
I happen to know that those are the people who are most alive.
If you’re not serving, you’re not living;
you’re just existing.
That’s why we want to see people break free of pew potato syndrome and become involved somehow
because Jesus says, “Only those people who are throwing their lives away for My sake and the sake of the Good News will ever know what it means to really live.”
It makes life meaningful.
7. IT WILL BE REWARDED FOR ETERNITY
In John 12:26 Jesus said, “My Father will honor the ones who serve Me.”
In Matthew 25:21 He says, ”Well done good and faithful servants. You’ve been faithful in a few things. I’ll put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness.”
This life is a test.
This is just probation down here.
You’re just being tested and God is seeing what kind of faithfulness you have.
You’re going to spend far more time on that side of eternity than you do the 60, 70, 80, 90 years you’re here.
How you spend your time here is going to determine what’s going to be done with you in the next life for eternity.
Jesus said, “You’ve been faithful in little things. I’ll put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness.”
That’s the greatest motivation in life.
Someday I want to stand before Jesus Christ and I want to hear Him say,
“Well done thou good and faithful servant.
You were not perfect, but you did your best.
You gave it your best shot.
You tried to make your life count for Christ.
You gave it away.
You had mistakes and bloopers and did all kinds of things that were worthless, but you gave it your best shot”
At that point, when Jesus says, “Well done thou good and faithful servant,” it will be worth it all.
Because that’s where I’m going to spend eternity.
CONCLUSION
If you were here this morning you heard a missionary speak about his ministry in India
He talked about parents selling their children into slavery and prostitution
He mentioned that 100,000 children were born in India just last night
He talked about the work being done there to advance the Gospel and see people saved
And he has the honor of being a part of that work because some where in his past he said, “I will not be a Pew potato!”
I will serve God by serving others and be happy about it
No matter what God asks me to do
Last week Pastor talked about the people that volunteer their time to come in on Monday morning and count the offerings from the day before
What we haven’t mentioned are the needs for people to stuff bulletins
Or welcome guests
Or open doors
Or fill communion cups
Or write notes of encouragement to shutins
Or visit the sick
Remember Jesus said when you do ministry in my name for even the least of my children you do it to me.
The point is that no matter how menial a task may seem
You have no idea how what you do will impost those you minsiter to
To have no idea how they may someday impact the kingdom
As you leave this evening you will be given a potato
In the next week look at it and consider
If only half of the people on planet earth needed to hear the gospel
We’d still have 2.5 billion people to reach
God needs you NOW
Don’t be a pew potato,
