I have been the pastor at Calvary Baptist in Mount Airy for a little more than a year now. Having invested much of the past twelve months in building relationships and learning about the congregation’s character, hopes and dreams; it has begun to feel in many ways like it’s time to start tackling the question: What do we need to do? (What new ministries do we need to launch? What new projects should we undertake? What new actions can help us enhance our fruitfulness as God’s people?)

And yet, I must confess that even asking this question creates a certain tension for me. Sometimes, I feel like those of us in church life get so preoccupied with “doing something” that we miss the greater blessing that comes from simply “being something.” Maybe the church doesn’t (or shouldn’t) grow because we trained everyone in the latest evangelism technique or launched a new outreach emphasis. Maybe the church should grow because we were faithfully and authentically being the people of God, with the result that others were drawn to that light.

An example of the difference comes from a couple of stories that deacons in my church have shared with me recently. One of these deacons was checking into the hospital not long ago for an outpatient procedure. While he was filling out the necessary paperwork, the receptionist who was working with him received a phone call, informing her that some members of her family had been in an auto accident. She was clearly distraught, and so this deacon took her by the hand and asked if he could pray for her. When she said, “Yes,” he did exactly that – with the result that she was reminded of the presence of God and the support of His people.

The other deacon is a local business owner whose shop was broken into a few weeks ago. The young man who committed the crime was caught and convicted. But when the deacon learned that this young man had attempted the burglary because he was desperate to provide for his wife and child, he did a rather radical (and I think, rather Christ-like) thing: he offered the young man a job.

Of course, these are somewhat extraordinary examples of people “being” (versus “doing”) the church…or are they? The fact is that all of us are given opportunities almost every day to offer those small acts of care and compassion that can make all the difference in someone’s life. And quite frankly, our responses to these opportunities can’t really be schedule or programmed or even encouraged in any systematic way. They grow out of who we are…out of our willingness to notice the open doors and our eagerness to be the church.

I’m so grateful for the way that these small acts happen with ‘blessed regularity’ in the life of my church family. Naturally, this doesn’t mean that we’ll never make the decision to do something special. Sometimes there are needs and opportunities that call for an organized and focused response. But for today, I just want to say, “Thank You” to those two deacons – and to all those others who are the family of God through the way they allow the character of God to shine through them. Thanks for “being” (vs. “doing”) the church.