Get out of the box. Get Jesus out of the box. Get the church out of the building, which is a box! Yep, I said it. And I mean it. Though I know this won’t score me any points with the religious types. I’m okay with that.

I’m coming out of a dry spell in my spiritual life. Actually, it was dry, dark, and desperate… like Mordor. And I think I was near a spiritual death, for lack of Living Water. (Mind you, I’m not saying it wasn’t available, I just couldn’t see it.) It was a long, painful journey, with the enemy searching to take me out. I had companions at times (some like Sam, others like Gollum), but the journey was mine.

Recently I had an epiphany about why it was so bad for me. Since I’ve been saved (17 years now), I’ve always held to the belief that we are saved to serve, not saved to sit. In the first many years, I served. Tirelessly. I served in the church, but I also went outside the church. Yes, there are many positions within the church building that need to be filled, or there wouldn’t actually be a church (think about it… kids ministry, ushers, greeters, sound, custodial, etc). Serving in that capacity is not a bad thing… in fact, it’s necessary.

But there’s more.

Much more.

What struck me is that yes, Jesus spent time in the church, and he never told anyone to not go to church. But he also never said just go to church. What he actually said was, “Go, and make disciples.”

Go…

Have you ever been wrecked for God? Have you ever been moved to tears or action by something you see? Have you ever felt righteous anger rising up in response to any of the many forms of evil that victimize others… in your neighborhood… in your city… in your country… in the world? If so, THAT is your calling. If not, well… you may want to figure out why.

There are so many opportunities to bring Jesus to the world. I’ve heard things like, “Serving in a soup kitchen isn’t me,” or “I’m not comfortable around the homeless.” Yeah? So what? There are literally thousands of other ways to serve. What do you have a passion for? Who do you connect with? Who do you understand? Who, when being completely honest with yourself, can you look at and say, “There, but by the grace of God, go I?”

So who needs Jesus?

Bikers. Drug addicts. Prisoners. Sick people. Immigrants. The hungry and the homeless. Women fleeing abusive relationships. People who’ve lost a loved one. Orphans. Athletes. Businessmen and women. Teens. Unwed mothers. First responders. Teachers. Freaks. Government workers (can I get an Amen?!). Women working in the sex industry ~ whether by “choice” or through human trafficking (this includes strippers, prostitutes, sex slaves, and the porn industry). And everyone else.

That’s where I need to be. I have known for quite some time that I was to offer what I could to women enslaved (don’t kid yourself, that’s what it is) in prostitution ~ especially young girls. I am to show Jesus, love, compassion, humility, and non-judgment to those ladies. But I didn’t. I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t in a good place. I had other things to do. I… I… I… the point is, I didn’t do what I know I was called to do. And that may not have put me in a dark place, but it certainly allowed me to stay there.

We are to have an inlet AND an outlet. Look at it this way… the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee are very near to each other. They are both fed by the Jordan river. But that’s where the similarity ends. The Sea of Galilee is lush, beautiful, vibrant, and full of life, because the water flows in, through, and out. On the other hand, the Dead Sea has no outlet, making it too salty, and too full of minerals for any living thing. There is no life at all in the Dead Sea (hence the name). It’s the same way with us. Where there is no outlet, there is no life!

Think of it this way… In life, it matters not what we get, but what we give. 

Yes, money is always needed. Yes, it’s good to give your treasure. But it’s equally important to give of your time and talent. A war cannot be won (yes, it really is a battlefield out there), by simply throwing money at it ~ without boots on the ground (or Christians in the field), no war would ever be won.

We need to be willing to get dirty. To be messy. Because that’s what life is. And that’s what true ministry is. Ministry isn’t beautiful buildings, church fashion trends, showy worship services, and a pristine church environment. Real ministry is like real life ~ gritty, messy, and complicated, but oh so fulfilling.

If our purpose upon getting saved was solely to worship Jesus, then we’d be taken to him, promptly thereafter. But we’re not. We’re left here to represent Him. We are to be his church, not a building. We are to be his hands and feet. We are to go. It’s been said that God does not call the equipped, He equips the called. All we need to do is find a need and fill it, find a hurt and heal it. Are you willing?