Movie Credits

by Jonathan Pettus

When you're watching a movie (at home or at the theater), when do you typically stop watching? Do you exit when the lights come up? Do you press "stop" when the camera pans out to a wide angle and the closing music begins playing? Or do you do the unthinkable and actually watch the credits?

Have you ever thought about the thousands of people that it takes to produce a movie? From boom microphone operators and locations scouts to those mysterious workers known only as " key grips", there are an incredible number of individuals besides the main actors and actresses that must do their jobs so that a movie can make it through production and on to the big screen. Sound familiar? Serving in the church is very similar. It takes countless individuals doing work (many times behind the scene) to keep the ministry of the Lord's in production.

Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 12 that we are one body made up of many parts. Not all of us perform the same function, but we are all necessary for the proper performance of the body. Also, we have been specifically chosen- "But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose" (vs. 18). The gift and responsibilities you have been given in the work of the Kingdom have been purposefully given to you by your Heavenly Father!

Imagine if credits rolled at the close of Sunday evening worship services. In those credits were the names of all the people who had served in the work of the church during the previous week. Would your name be found on that list? Are you serving God with the gifts and opportunities He gives you? Our motivation to serve in the Kingdom should never be to get recognition from others, but we should all serve with the realization that God always sticks around and watches the credits.