Backwards - Feb 2003

Image from www,ReelClassics.Com
click on link to learn more about Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers

Click on Bold Scriptures for Pop Up Scripture References to Appear

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers are probably the most famous dance team in history. The thing that I have always felt people missed when they discussed how great a dancer Fred Astaire was that he had a great dance partner in Ginger Rodgers. She did everything he did but backwards and in heels. To me that seems much harder than dancing forward and in flat shoes.

Many times God calls us to serve as Ginger Rodgers for those that are in ministry. What I mean by that is many times we are called to support the visible person or the visible ministry, but we ourselves, and all the work that we do, will not be noticed. If our work is noticed it will be only by a few and will be commented on by even fewer. Basically our job becomes to support and encourage those that are serving in visible ministry positions.

This duty within the body of Christ also means that many times our job of support may be more difficult then the job that the visible ministry leader is doing. It is sort of like project in industry when the supervisor gives the presentation that their staff prepared. The job of presenting the proposal is not difficult as preparing the proposal, but the people that prepare the presentation are also not held responsible for the outcome of the project.

Ministry is like that. The leader is held to a higher standard, and they are responsible for the spiritual growth of all the people the ministry touches. To accomplish this it means they must focus on the spiritual aspects of the ministry, the current state and direction of the ministry, and the future goals that the ministry is working toward. This focus, may mean they themselves do not physically labor as hard as the people that help them make the ministry run. Those assistants, those supporters, those organizers allow the leader to function correctly in their role. These people should rejoice in their labor, for without them the ministry would fail.

Great people, great leaders, and great managers always have great support. I have heard it said that behind every great man is a great woman, and that the reverse is also true, but the truth is sometimes great people are single or widowed, sometimes their family does not support them at all. Great Christian leaders always have great support people behind them, but that does not mean their supporters have to be family by blood.

Within the body of Christ, we are all brothers and sisters to each other. I do not think that those terms are used lightly to describe the relationship that God expects His people to have with each other. God wants us to be the physical support team for other Christians. God can ease the persons heart, soul and spirit, but He expects us to act as His hands, feet and mouths to physically minister to other believers and to those that are seeking Him. God commands us to help each other, no where does the Bible say - help others if no one else does. The command is to help fellow servants - period - no exceptions.

Some people's nature lends them to the position of a supporter. They flee from the spotlight and do not yearn for attention. They are specially gifted by God to not be motivated to labor to gain the admiration or praise of others. That being said, it does not mean that such people do not deserve attention and praise. They probably deserve and need some encouragement today themselves. Think of who is doing the work in ministries that assist or aid you. Thank those people, for they need encouragement too, they just may not feed off it as much as visible leaders like teachers, directors, pastors, and leaders do. People that perform the support work in ministries should be appreciated, thanked and encouraged when you appreciate a ministry as much as the leaders.

The church should be full of Ginger Rodger types. Doing a great job, doing the support, and not getting much of the credit. This is due to the nature of the structure of the body of Christ. Few parts of the body are visible, but all parts of it are required for the body to succeed, function, and grow. This is because the nature of the call of Christ is to serve and love others humbly.

The Bible is full of examples of how we should serve and what God has called us to regarding our fellow servants. , , , and all give us specific examples of how we should serve within the body. Another Biblical example of unity and how to support other Christians can be found in

The real question is are you willing to help build up the body when you will not receive any credit for it. That is a tough question, and one that you can only answer for yourself. The world teaches us to do that which we will receive selfish glory and attention for. The Bible and Jesus teaches us to serve in the most humble manner possible. If we do that we may recieve Godly glory and praise. Christ tells us to come to Him like a child (humbleness), serve others like the lowest servant (like a slave), sacrifice your body/time and talents for others (selflessness), and to labor in the positions that He has for us (unity - peacefulness- resoluteness). These are some of the major characteristics that Christ modeled for us to follow. You have to decide what type of servant for Christ you desire to be.

Humility is not always rewarded invisibly by God either. The humble are usually chosen to lead the force of God forward. The leaders of today were the servants of yesterday. Biblical examples of humble, serving people that were chosen for positions of great authority can be found in the examples of Moses and in Mary. Look at the Biblical description of Moses, the man chosen by God to lead His people out of bondage.

Numbers 12:3 (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)

Moses was humble, the Bible even tells us that He had a speech problem, yet he, Moses, humble and lacking articulate speech was chosen to lead God’s people from their bondage. Mary, a young girl at the time, was humble and she was chosen the earthly mother of Christ. Look at Mary’s reaction to finding out that she has been chosen to be Jesus’s earthly mother.

Luke 1:46 And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord
Luke 1:47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
Luke 1:48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed,
Luke 1:49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me-- holy is his name.
Luke 1:50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
Luke 1:51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
Luke 1:52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.

She praises God for choosing a humble servant, and notes that God lowers rulers, but lifts up the humble to places of distinctive service. This is the pattern that we see throughout Jesus’s ministry, He humbled the proud, used and encouraged the humble, and always served His followers and disciples humbly.

The reality is that humble service is the life that God calls His people too. He calls us to serve, sometimes visible, often times invisibly. He calls us to suffer, but yet we are never alone in our pain. He calls us to hurt and strive, yet we always gain success in the end. He calls us to yearn for more of Him daily, and our reward is more wisdom, more power, and a better relationship with God. We are told to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, to me that means it must be a serious thing and once that we decide to follow Him that our life will be different then it was before.

Churches are full of glory seekers, sometimes they are church staff, sometimes they are volunteer leaders, sometimes they are attendees, but they are there. The Bible clearly tells us that those kind of people receive all their glory here on earth, but that humble servants will be greatly rewarded in Heaven. Specific references to how the proud will be treated can be found in and in . The choice that lies in front of all of us today is to decided where we would like to receive glory - in Heaven or on Earth.

The choice to server others does not mean we will not be thanked and should not be thanked, it just means that we may labor virtually unseen. What we are promised is that by serving humbly our impact on the body will be significant. After serving others we may or may not be called to lead others, that choice is up to God. Simply, we are called to serve without regard to what we will receive in return. We are to support other Christians on earth. Visibly or invisibly we are called to serve.

God has gifted each of us specially for the tasks He has for us. The important thing to remember is that any praise that we receive, any glory and success that we have, is from God and that our success is not due to our works but due to His grace, His provision, and His blessings. Many times these things are achieved by God using other brothers and sisters to support those that are in need, that are hurting, those that are leading, those that are striving and those that are working to grow closer to Christ.

Today work to be a Ginger Rodgers for someone instead of a Fred Astaire to everyone.

1Peter 3:8 Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.

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	Image from www,ReelClassics.Com click on link to learn more about Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers *Click on Bold Scriptures for Pop Up Scripture References to Appear* Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers are probably the most famous dance team in history. The thing that I have always felt people missed when they discussed how great a dancer Fred Astaire was that he had a great dance partner in Ginger Rodgers. She did everything he did but backwards and in heels. To me that seems much harder than dancing forward and in flat shoes. Many times God calls us to serve as Ginger Rodgers for those that are in ministry. What I mean by that is many times we are called to support the visible person or the visible ministry, but we ourselves, and all the work that we do, will not be noticed. If our work is noticed it will be only by a few and will be commented on by even fewer. Basically our job becomes to support and encourage those that are serving in visible ministry positions. This duty within the body of Christ also means that many times our job of support may be more difficult then the job that the visible ministry leader is doing. It is sort of like project in industry when the supervisor gives the presentation that their staff prepared. The job of presenting the proposal is not difficult as preparing the proposal, but the people that prepare the presentation are also not held responsible for the outcome of the project. Ministry is like that. The leader is held to a higher standard, and they are responsible for the spiritual growth of all the people the ministry touches. To accomplish this it means they must focus on the spiritual aspects of the ministry, the current state and direction of the ministry, and the future goals that the ministry is working toward. This focus, may mean they themselves do not physically labor as hard as the people that help them make the ministry run. Those assistants, those supporters, those organizers allow the leader to function correctly in their role. These people should rejoice in their labor, for without them the ministry would fail. Great people, great leaders, and great managers always have great support. I have heard it said that behind every great man is a great woman, and that the reverse is also true, but the truth is sometimes great people are single or widowed, sometimes their family does not support them at all. Great Christian leaders always have great support people behind them, but that does not mean their supporters have to be family by blood. Within the body of Christ, we are all brothers and sisters to each other. I do not think that those terms are used lightly to describe the relationship that God expects His people to have with each other. God wants us to be the physical support team for other Christians. God can ease the persons heart, soul and spirit, but He expects us to act as His hands, feet and mouths to physically minister to other believers and to those that are seeking Him. God commands us to help each other, no where does the Bible say - help others if no one else does. The command is to help fellow servants - period - no exceptions. Some people's nature lends them to the position of a supporter. They flee from the spotlight and do not yearn for attention. They are specially gifted by God to not be motivated to labor to gain the admiration or praise of others. That being said, it does not mean that such people do not deserve attention and praise. They probably deserve and need some encouragement today themselves. Think of who is doing the work in ministries that assist or aid you. Thank those people, for they need encouragement too, they just may not feed off it as much as visible leaders like teachers, directors, pastors, and leaders do. People that perform the support work in ministries should be appreciated, thanked and encouraged when you appreciate a ministry as much as the leaders. The church should be full of Ginger Rodger types. Doing a great job, doing the support, and not getting much of the credit. This is due to the nature of the structure of the body of Christ. Few parts of the body are visible, but all parts of it are required for the body to succeed, function, and grow. This is because the nature of the call of Christ is to serve and love others humbly. The Bible is full of examples of how we should serve and what God has called us to regarding our fellow servants. , , , and all give us specific examples of how we should serve within the body. Another Biblical example of unity and how to support other Christians can be found in The real question is are you willing to help build up the body when you will not receive any credit for it. That is a tough question, and one that you can only answer for yourself. The world teaches us to do that which we will receive selfish glory and attention for. The Bible and Jesus teaches us to serve in the most humble manner possible. If we do that we may recieve Godly glory and praise. Christ tells us to come to Him like a child (humbleness), serve others like the lowest servant (like a slave), sacrifice your body/time and talents for others (selflessness), and to labor in the positions that He has for us (unity - peacefulness- resoluteness). These are some of the major characteristics that Christ modeled for us to follow. You have to decide what type of servant for Christ you desire to be. Humility is not always rewarded invisibly by God either. The humble are usually chosen to lead the force of God forward. The leaders of today were the servants of yesterday. Biblical examples of humble, serving people that were chosen for positions of great authority can be found in the examples of Moses and in Mary. Look at the Biblical description of Moses, the man chosen by God to lead His people out of bondage. Numbers 12:3 (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.) Moses was humble, the Bible even tells us that He had a speech problem, yet he, Moses, humble and lacking articulate speech was chosen to lead God’s people from their bondage. Mary, a young girl at the time, was humble and she was chosen the earthly mother of Christ. Look at Mary’s reaction to finding out that she has been chosen to be Jesus’s earthly mother. Luke 1:46 And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord Luke 1:47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, Luke 1:48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, Luke 1:49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me-- holy is his name. Luke 1:50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. Luke 1:51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. Luke 1:52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. She praises God for choosing a humble servant, and notes that God lowers rulers, but lifts up the humble to places of distinctive service. This is the pattern that we see throughout Jesus’s ministry, He humbled the proud, used and encouraged the humble, and always served His followers and disciples humbly. The reality is that humble service is the life that God calls His people too. He calls us to serve, sometimes visible, often times invisibly. He calls us to suffer, but yet we are never alone in our pain. He calls us to hurt and strive, yet we always gain success in the end. He calls us to yearn for more of Him daily, and our reward is more wisdom, more power, and a better relationship with God. We are told to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, to me that means it must be a serious thing and once that we decide to follow Him that our life will be different then it was before. Churches are full of glory seekers, sometimes they are church staff, sometimes they are volunteer leaders, sometimes they are attendees, but they are there. The Bible clearly tells us that those kind of people receive all their glory here on earth, but that humble servants will be greatly rewarded in Heaven. Specific references to how the proud will be treated can be found in and in . The choice that lies in front of all of us today is to decided where we would like to receive glory - in Heaven or on Earth. The choice to server others does not mean we will not be thanked and should not be thanked, it just means that we may labor virtually unseen. What we are promised is that by serving humbly our impact on the body will be significant. After serving others we may or may not be called to lead others, that choice is up to God. Simply, we are called to serve without regard to what we will receive in return. We are to support other Christians on earth. Visibly or invisibly we are called to serve. God has gifted each of us specially for the tasks He has for us. The important thing to remember is that any praise that we receive, any glory and success that we have, is from God and that our success is not due to our works but due to His grace, His provision, and His blessings. Many times these things are achieved by God using other brothers and sisters to support those that are in need, that are hurting, those that are leading, those that are striving and those that are working to grow closer to Christ. Today work to be a Ginger Rodgers for someone instead of a Fred Astaire to everyone. 1Peter 3:8 Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.