[268 words]
“Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country!” This challenge, made famous during the Kennedy presidency, suggests a like principle which should guide every Christian’s attitude toward the church. We should be less concerned about what is being done for US and more attentive to what we are doing for others.
Ask not, therefore…
…whether this is a good congregation to be a member of, but ask whether I am a good member of the congregation.
…how much I am loved, but how much love have I shown.
…how many get well cards I received, but how many I have sent to others.
…who visited me, but who have I visited.
…how much I get out of classes, but how much I contribute to make the classes interesting and edifying.
…whether I was remembered in prayer, but whether I faithfully prayed for others.
…who did or did not speak to me, but how many others I greeted.
…whether my good work is recognized, but whether I have given honor to whom honor is due.
…how many of my prayer requests God has granted, but how grateful have I been for His innumerable blessings.
…to what extent my deeds have profited me now, but how my life will be remembered when I am gone.
“Look not every man on his own thing, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” who “came not to be ministered unto, but to minister” (Phil. 2:4-5; Matt. 20:28).
David Pharr
via Broadway church of Christ
Campbellsville, KY