As long as I am going for the gusto here, I want to point out a few other things. First of all, anybody in ANY type of church leadership position (paid or unpaid) or volunteer position, I encourage you to read the book “Volunteer Revolution” The reason we serve in church is not merely because there is a job that needs to get done. The task is merely an excuse to get together, be in community with each other, and serve a God bigger than anything we know. You ask any grandmother why she would rock a baby in the nursery, and she wouldn’t say because she has too, but because of her love for children, and her gift of being able to keep babies quite and content. Likewise, you should never ask someone do play an instrument or run sound, simply for the fact you need someone to fill that spot. Their act of serving is more than just fulfilling an obligation, or pushing buttons. They are offering their gifts as an act of worship to God, in the best way they know how.

I have a very good friend who is a dancer on the strip here in Vegas (and NO, you don’t have to be a stripper to be a dancer in Vegas). She has been in shows on the strip since she was 13 years old, and she is now in her mid- 30’s. About 6 months ago, our women’s ministry had an event, and on of the programmed elements was a dance using 3-4 girls dancing to a song that was being played by the band. I was doing tech stuff at that event, and had the opportunity to see her. After the program, I was talking to her, and she informed me that was the first time in here life she had ever “danced for the Lord”. 25 years of dancing, and it was the first time dancing at church as an act of worship. Her comments that followed were that the 4 minutes she danced to that song, was the most exciting, electrifying, and invigorating time of her life. Dancing for 25 years in front of hundreds of people per night, and one song in front of 75 people did it for her. Not because of the music. Not because of the venue. But because of the audience she was performing for- an audience of One.

I have technical guys like that as well. They are sound techs and lighting designers on the strip by trade. That’s what they do every single day, day in and day out. Yet each one of them says they realize that the volunteer work they do at the church on a weekend, is more important and more valuable than a lifetime of work downtown. They are giving their gifts and talants back to the God that blessed them with it. That can’t be taken lightly.

There are lots of people out there that see serving as an act of worship, myself included. We need to be receptive to those people, and be creative in finding ways for those people to use their talents to glorify God.