Being Helpful

Posted on Feb 18, 2017 in Devotions |

Do you like to help people? Doesn’t it feel good when you see someone in need, to be able to step in and provide for that? There is something compelling and deep rooted in our make up that makes helping satisfying.   I suspect that it comes to us early on. When we are small and want to do something that is beyond our abilities, our parents might have said something like “You can’t do it by yourself, but would you like to be my helper?” I still remember “helping” my dad mow the lawnand I remember my little ones “helping” make dinner. I love seeing the sense of accomplishment and pride when a little one “helps.” Whether it comes from our early background, or whether helping is just part of who we are, there seems to be part of us that likes to help.
 

Sometimes helping has a dark side. For instince when helping isn’t about helping but about controlling. It is the times when “Let me help you with that” is really about “Let me do it because you are messing it up.” Parents of older teens and adult children really have to watch out for this one.   Oh they are trying to help alright but it sure doesn’t take long to understand the true motivation. Sometimes such help is tolerated (barely) for a season, but usually not. Usually such help is soundly rejected to the pain of the helper, who has convinced themselves that they are completely selfless in helping, and wondering why such help could possibly be rejected. At other times the helping is less about the person needing help and more about the helper. The helper has a deep need to be needed. They need to be significant so their helping has the added bonus effect of convincing the person that they are helpless. Called co-dependancy, such help results in a terrible crash when its unstable roots finally give way and both collapse.

The church is an extension of us all. It is certainly an example of the multiplication factor in the sum of our parts. Each of us brings to the table Spiritual gifts, abilities and talents, and when we with the help of the Holy Spirit employ those to meet the needs of those around us, it quickly becomes bigger than we ever imagined! But always the church has to do a gut check. We must always examine the question of “why?” Helping makes us feel good, but is it because we need to feel good, or because the community needs what we are offering. Does our help result in freedom and independence, or bondage and increased dependence. Is our helping even …… helping?

All of these are some aspects of helping that we must be aware of and consider. This week we will be talking about Climbing: Significant Ministries. We will be talking about how we as a church can be and should be involved in serving our community.   Are you serving? What is your motivation? Come expecting to be challenged to help.

See you at church.

Pastor Chris Henderson