What part does God want me to play in what He is building?

More Than Enough, Part 2 of 3. Part 1 looked at why generosity starts with gratitude. This article asks what part God invites each of us to play in what He is building. Part 3 asks what “more than enough” means for a church.

God didn’t just give Moses a plan. He gave His people a part to play, because God’s plan has always involved a people. The same is true for us. God is working in and through His church, and what He desires to accomplish involves our participation: our gifts, our abilities, our resources, and our willingness.

Does God give His people what they need to do His work?

Exodus 36:2 says:

And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whose mind the Lord had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to do the work. (Exodus 36:2, ESV)

The first thing that stands out is what the Bible tells us about the craftsmen. God had given them skill and the ability to accomplish the work. God supplied the ability to build what He wanted to build.

One of my mentors has often told me, “Seth, everything that God wants to do in and through your church is found in the people God has already brought into your church.” That tells me God has supplied the ability to build what God wants to build. What God has placed within your life matters to what God wants to build.

Why does God involve His people when He could do it alone?

God supplied the ability, but that’s not all verse 2 tells us. At the back end of the verse it says, “everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to do the work.” God supplied the ability, but the people had to willingly participate.

Consider what that means. God could have accomplished His purposes without His people. He could have gotten this work done in any way He chose, but He chose to involve His people. God wants to use your life to see His will established on the earth. Your life was made for more than just trying to become a better moral example of who you think you are when you look in the mirror.

God has set you apart and consecrated you for the work of the ministry, to be equipped in the context of the church, and to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. You might think, “Isn’t that the pastor’s job?” Actually, no, it’s not. I’ve been set apart as a pastor to do the work of equipping the saints for the ministry. I participate too. My family and I fill out our commitment card, and we stretch our faith. We’re in the trenches with everyone else, and when I’m not preaching, I wear my name tag, just like Pastor Kyle, because I’m a part of the body of Christ. Each of us has been set apart by God and supplied by the ability of the Holy Spirit at work within us to play a part. We’ve been invited into the work God is trying to accomplish.

We don’t all have the same gifts, but we all have a part to play. Your gift set may be different than mine. But it would be a disservice for me, as a pastor, to tell you it’s okay to call Heights Church your home church and to sit on the sidelines, not exercising the muscles of your faith in all that God has given you. I urge you to play a part in what God is building, because you were made for more, and what God wants to form in you is more than enough.

God has given you a part to play, but you have to be willing to participate in what God is building.

What moves people from having ability to being willing?

Ability alone isn’t enough. In verse 2 the people came because their hearts were stirred. In verse 3 they continued bringing free will offerings every morning. These gifts weren’t forced, and there wasn’t pressure. They gave willingly. What they gave revealed what was happening in their hearts. Because of God’s mercy, they responded in gratitude. More than enough starts in the heart before it shows up in the hand.

Why does my participation matter to God?

In church, our participation matters to God. It matters in two ways.

First, it matters for what God is forming in us. This is one of the most amazing things about what God does. When we position ourselves to be generous to the Lord and willingly participate in what He is doing, He doesn’t just accomplish something through us. He uses our participation to form something in us. It’s not simply about what we accomplish. It’s about who we are becoming as we follow Him.

Second, it matters for what God wants to accomplish through us. God’s plan always involves people. He desires to use our lives to see His kingdom come. Why did Jesus teach us to pray daily, “Your kingdom come, and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”? I would venture to say it’s because Jesus wanted us to recognize that we have a part to play in it. God was accomplishing something through the people of Israel. Their gifts, their resources, and their abilities were being used to accomplish God’s purposes. God works through our lives in the same way.

Do I really play a part in changing lives?

You have played a part in people’s lives being changed. As I prepared to share what God has done through our church this year, we were at ninety-nine decisions for Christ. Our student ministry had been running for about six weeks when our student director, Silas, sent me a message late one Wednesday night. He told me the story of a high school student’s first confession of faith, in the living room of one of our families’ homes. That first student decision made it an even hundred people who have found Jesus because of our church. We also celebrated over forty baptisms this past year.

Brayden first visited Heights at our first baptism service. He made a confession of faith in Jesus, and he took a first step of obedience and was baptized spontaneously in the moment. We prayed for Brayden that day and have walked with him over the past several months. Your participation plays a part in stories like his.

Steve, who recently passed away, was the first baptism in Heights Church. As I talked with his family about his life, they told me they had prayed for decades that he would find faith in Jesus. Steve walked into our church around Christmas time and made a confession of faith in Jesus Christ. He filled out our form to be baptized, and he was baptized in extraordinary fashion in January. When Steve passed on, I sat with his family, and they expressed their gratitude for the church that made room for him to find Jesus. They told me their lives would never be the same, because the person they had prayed for over years and years was now on the other side of eternity with Jesus, because of the faithfulness of the people who made room.

Your participation is part of every one of these stories, not because God needs us to accomplish His purposes, but because by God’s grace, He’s invited us to take part.

Where is God inviting you to move from receiving to participating? God’s plan is always involving people: a people who recognize what God is doing, a people who willingly offer what God has given them, a people who play a part in what God is building.

What should I take from this?

God supplies the ability, and He invites our willingness. When we willingly take part in what He is doing, He doesn’t just accomplish something through us. He uses our participation to form something in us. So ask God, “What are You forming in my heart? How are You inviting me to participate?”

Next in the series: Part 3 of 3, “What does ‘more than enough’ mean for a church?”