The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1960-02-19

Lesson for February q, 19eo

THE MOST over-used and i'll
used word in the English langu-
age, perhaps, is service. It's
the great American catch-word.
Your car dealer, florist, banker,
garbage collector and preacher
all talk about service. Certain
business mems associations are
called service clubs" Innumer-
able places have the sign over
the door: SALES AND SERVICE
When you look into it, often it
turns out that what is meant by
service is making something
good that should have been good
in the first place" 1t is often
something that is Dragged about
whereas it ought to go without
saying. It is often not done well
las in poor restaurants or ga
RACES and sometimes consists in
furnishing something not asked
for or needed.
Services of the Church
The church in America can't
escape it. If the church did not
offer service it would be most
peculiar. and in fact would
hardly be a church at all. For it,
almost alone. serves by its very
nature. All the institutions of So
clety that do truly render serv-
ice, were inspired or created by
the church in the first place.
fOrphanages and savings banks
come to mind, and there are
many others. notably schools
But what are the services of
the church? We often use the
term church service" to mean
the meeting for public worship
and preaching. We cannot quar-
rel with that use of the word. but
that is not what is meant here.
What we mean is, when the min
lister calls on a new family and
tells them the services of his
church are at their disposal. what
does he mean? Certainly some
thing more than to say the wor-
Ship-meetingS of the church are
open to them.
Many minor methods of serv-
ice are used by the church: oper-
ating kindergartens. book clubs,
employment agencies. loan funds,
not to mention more elaborate
projects such as educating people
on the moral side of public ques-
tons. operating hospitals. pub
fishing houses. schools and so on.
BY calling these minor" we do
not mean they are unilnportant
OF that the church should not
Il n d + k e them. When Paul
wrote: LET us do good to all
men. especially to those who are
of the household of faith" he
laid down the foundation princi-
pie of every service project that
deserves the name.
Nevertheless. the question still
is: What is the most vital Serv-
ice, the top service the church
can render? Surely it must be
to give people what they need the
most. Suppose a man is dying of
a serious disease. He may not
want any particular medicine, or
any medicine at all. But doc
ter, examining him, may know
just the specific medicine for his
trouble. He m n ters to the
mans need. not to his immedi
ate appetite.
What human beings need mos
is, in one word, God. The church
is doing the supreme service fol
us when it shows us the way
back to God Let us rather say
the way forward to God: he i.
ahead CT us, not the other way
around. The doorway to Coo
has two keys, like safety de
post box: ore key is marked
Faith and the other Repentance
God gives us the keys but never
forces us to use them.
To Feed and Defend
The church is often thought O
as a flock of sheep, its leadel
as shepherds. In addressing tn,
elders of EpheSuS. who remem
bered well his three years anon,
them. Paul marks out the tw,
things a shepherd does for hi.
sheep: to feed and to defent
them against wolves and othel
beasts. Some people suppose tina
a church's service is confines
simply to proclaiming repentanc,
and faith-in other words, tn
church's whole and only business
is evangelism. This was no
Paul's practice. He. and tn,
elders after him, if they followe,
his example. also fed and dc
Tended Chrlst'S people. Feed
ing means all the church doc
III no,Iristirg and building ~
Christ like character. esrecisll,
teaching, preaching. co,Inseline
training for Christian service a
the highest levels. Defending
means eping the churcl
strong, despite the attacks of al
who would destroy it, from with
out or within.
BASED on outlines cOpyrighte,
by the Division Of Christian Edu
cation, National Council of tn
Churches Of Christ in the U. S. A
Released by Community Pres