Thursday, September 2, 2010

September 2, 2010

"Every day they continued to meet together......." Acts 2:46a




In a recent post I talked about the importance of doing small things well. Small things done well over time make a big difference. The tendency is to value the spectacular events and the exciting efforts. But unless someone is paying attention to the details nothing lasting will result from the big things.
Today I want to talk about the value of one particular small thing - the importance of showing up!
Just showing up almost sounds too abvious to mention. But it was one of the things that the Church in Jerusalem did best. They were consistent in their Christian disciplines. Consistency equates to commitment. Not much happens without commitment.
Cal Ripken is a cinch for the Hall of Fame because he developed the discipline of showing up. His career statistics are borderline for Hall of Famers. On the basis of his stats he would have been considered for Cooperstown, but the fact that he played in a record-setting 2,632 consecutive games make his selection a no-brainer. Ripken shattered the record of a previous Hall of Famer, Lou Gehrig by almost games!
I think of Betty Darling. Betty was a tiny little lady from the hills and hollows of West Virginia who was extremely shy - but amazingly faithful. Betty worked in the nursery at Heritage Wesleyan Church, one of the largest churches in our denomination. She was there when the church ran 25 people and she only had one infant to care for. She was still there when the church topped 2,000 and had more babies in the nursery than they used to have people in the church. Betty was so shy she had trouble looking you in the eye. She would slip into the nursery and out the back door. But you could count on one thing - if Sunday came, Betty would be there.
For nearly 30 years she cared for several generations of little ones. There are young men in ministry that Betty rocked and burped. She is now in God's Hall of Fame, otherwise known as Heaven. By the way, the church now runs 3,000+ because of a lot of faithful people like Betty who just show up on a regular basis.
Can I remind you that God promised that "where two or three people are gathered together, I am in their midst"?
In otherwords, God promises that if we show up He will!
Commitment trumps talent every time. Don't discount the value of just showing up. Showing up is far more powerful than showing off. Obviously, the real deal is when talented people show up!
Churches don't happen without people who are committed to showing up and doing their best. How committed are you? How good are you at showing up?