It's Not My Yob, Man

One of my buddies in college went to Jamaica and got a T-shirt with the "it's not my job" phrase on it. And, in light of the passage I taught through Sunday morning (1 Peter 5:1-5), I've been thinking about what IS my job here at NewLife.

So, in honor of football season getting ready to start (go, Titans!), I'll use an extended football metaphor. (Those of you who hate football... sorry.)

• I'm not the coach. That job belongs to the Holy Spirit, who is a far better life coach than I will ever be.
• I'm not the quarterback. I don't call the plays, I simply do what I'm told. (And I'm definitely not the star of the show - that belongs to the One who gave His all for us.)
• I'm not the center, as Jesus has to be not only the center of our lives but also the center of our church.

According to the Bible, I'm the equipment manager... the water boy.

(God) is the one who gave these gifts to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ, until we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ.
Ephesians 4:11-13 (New Living Translation)

My job is to get the team ready to play... ready to make a God-sized dent under the leadership ("coaching") of the Holy Spirit & suited up in the new way life custom-made by Jesus (Colossians 3:9-11, The Message). My work is to make your work for God better...

So, what's your job? (Hint: you can read the passage above to get a clue!)

This article originally appeared in the 8/17/05 edition of "the Grapevine", the e-newsletter of NewLife Community Church.

UPDATE: After this article appeared, Clint Wilder e-mailed with the following comment: "I think we are also the cheerleaders. We certainly are motivators for the crowd to cheer for God's 'team'."