Jobs Not Tasks
There is the story of a boy who bursts into the dining room where his father sat at breakfast and said, “What can I do to help you today, Dad? I want to do something!”
“Well son,” was the reply, “do you see that pile of sand out there? You can wheel it up to the other end of the garden.”
“All right,” said the boy, and with a whistle on his lips he went to work. But the job did not last long and he was soon back.
“Job is done, Dad, what can I do to help you now?” Now the father, like a great many other American fathers, thought only of keeping the boy employed.
“Oh, just wheel it back where you found it,” was his reply.
The boy thrust his hands into his pockets and walked from the room. His whistling had ceased. He found that his father had given him not a job, but a task.
It seems many times that we relegate tasks to our young people because we do not believe that they are capable of being an active part of the church. This has created a disconnect from the upcoming generation who feel as if they are forced to come to church as apposed to being an active part of the Lord’s body. We find menial things that we are convinced are below our position and assign those tasks to the young people we are convinced are able to do so little. We rob them of being an active part of the Church because we have a stereotypical perception that portrays them as unwilling to serve. The problem is that we have not truly given them a chance to serve in a desirable way. There must be purpose in the jobs that we give them.
I want our young people to know that there is a purpose and place for them within the body of Christ. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity
(1 Tim. 4:12). While I know that we have dropped the ball as adults in making you disciples, you have an opportunity to gain the trust to be assigned jobs within the church. You are to be setting the standard for the believers who are around you. You have so much enthusiasm and joy, and God wants you to share that with all the other believers. Do not let anyone despise you for your age, but realize that you must work to earn the respect from those older than you.
This really is a two-way street. Adults must begin giving our youth jobs with purpose within the Church, and our youth must begin to set an example to the believers who are around them. Adults do not sell our young people short, and youth do not sell your potential short. If we want to have a thriving, strong church, we must begin with a foundation of active and strong young people who have purpose and meaning in the Body.
