The Layman, The White Thing, and The Wardrobe

In America we have closets built into the house - some even have 'walk-in-closets'. Not so in Europe. And even though C.S. Lewis tried to popularize the idea of a 'walk-in-wardrobe' it never really took off. Hence the fact that Europeans typically have less space for clothes than Americans.

Nevertheless, we live in Europe - our clothes will go in a wardrobe.

I'll be honest though, wardrobe building doesn't come naturally to me. So we asked some friends to help. Unfortunately we made a nearly fatal mistake.

There are these little white things that have to go in some of the pre-drilled holes. The problem is that the directions didn't indicate which holes they go in. The fact that all the holes were the same size didn't help either. To make a long story short, we put them in the wrong holes, had to take a drill to get them out and then had to look in 3 different cities to find the right white things to put back in the holes. Two weeks later our wardrobe was finished.

I found one thing interesting though. The man who found the white things and helped me finish the wardrobe kept telling me how they only cost 2 or 3 cents, yet we couldn't finish the wardrobe until we had them. They were vital to the completion of our project.

And so it is with the Church. The local churches that I've been part of have often been more fruitful when every member is involved. Here in Orahovica we have the pastor and his wife who fulfill more than their fair share of the responsibilities. But there are also some who help in various building projects as we reconstruct the building. There are those who cook, clean and maintain the building as well. We also have those who are involved in outreach outside the church and those who teach the Bible Studies in addition to those who lead musical worship and teach Sunday School. Most everyone is involved. I'm hardpressed to find an example of someone who was willing to help whose involvement didn't benefit the church or community.

And although it takes much longer than two weeks to build a local church, its the value of every member, and the collection of those members that truly reflects the beauty of the Body of Christ.