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THE PASTOR'S PAGE
I read of a survey conducted by a seminary which asked one simple question of a number of people who responded that they were Christians. The question was simply, what is the most important thing you do as a Christian? I was amazed to find a diversity of answers. Nothing really seemed to jump out at you as the obvious answer. But it did prompt me to think about such a question and to ask it of myself; what is the most important thing I do as a Christian.
An answer that seemed to pop up rather often concerned worship. Many people responded that they believed the most important thing a Christian could do was to worship God on a regular basis. Of course, I wondered what the term regular basis meant. To some that may mean weekly, to others it may mean once a month and to still others it could mean to make sure you worship on the high festivals. What ever you may decide is "regularly", it seems that this is a very important part of the life of a Christian.
Another answer that seems to be made by many is to take care of other people. We recall that Christ taught us that when we do something to the least of these we do it to and for him. Many people seem to take this very seriously. We know that God has blessed us in many ways and that we are called to be a blessing for others. Still, I wonder how many people understand that God has also equipped us with talent and abilities to be used for Him and for his creation. That too I think is just as important.
For that matter, some people did say that they are to take care of the creation that God has given us. When we hear those words in Genesis to subdue the earth, we must understand that God is not calling us to abuse the earth, but to make it an even better place than before. We are called to commit ourselves to good ecological practices.
Finally, another answer, and one I think is most important was that people said that they pray for each other and over situations. They didn't say when people pray or why they pray, simply that people said it was very important to pray. I know that we find it easy to pray in times of need, or in times of stress and struggle or when things are not going very good. Still, God also calls on us to pray during the good times, to offer prayers of thanksgiving, and to offer prayers of praise to him. All prayer is very, very important.
When I really looked at the long list of things people found important, I noticed something, and maybe you did too. All of these acts of the Christian, important as they are, are all aspects of a life of ministry and stewardship. From worshipping God with all our being, to praying for each other, these are acts of ministry that God calls us to do. They are also acts of stewardship based upon our definition of stewardship, everything you do after you say I believe. That being the case, I guess if I were posed with the question what is the most important thing I do as a Christian, I would say being a good steward of all the time, talents, abilities and treasures that God has bestowed upon me.
How would you answer the question? See you in Church!
Pastor Gary
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