I’m blessed to be able to sit under the teaching of one Aaron Bryant at The Church at Avenue South. He is most definitely God’s man for the role of campus pastor.

I’ve been to more than a few churches in my lifetime. I’ve sat under men who had a heart for people but weren’t the greatest expositors. I’ve also know a few that could alliterate with the best of them but weren’t that good with people outside the pulpit.

I remember I worked in a church office once where the pastor insisted that everyone address him as Doctor. I’m fairly certain that he didn’t pay for all that education only to boost his ego. Well, hopefully not. I’m sure he had his good qualities, but that onesn’t one of them.

But Mr. Bryant is the real deal. He’s a gifted communicator and a compassionate shepherd. He’s one of the main reasons that Ave South has flourished in just under 4 years of existence.

I seem to remember that while it’s good to have a good pastor, that doesn’t give me any excuse to opt out of ministry myself. If I read my Bible correctly, we’re all in the ministry, whether that’s what we do professionally or not. We’re all called to be evangelists at some point in our dealings with those with whom we live, work, and play.

As Dwight Moody put it, we just might be the only Bible some will ever read. We might be the only sermon some will ever listen to, and we might be the only Jesus that some will ever see. You might be the only gospel access to people who would never set foot in a church building.

That’s a sobering thought. Hopefully, that changes the way we live. Hopefully, it changes our conversations and helps us see that God has strategically placed these people in our lives for a reason.

I don’t like to be corrected. I get defensive and angry. But just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean that I don’t need it from time to time.

Every one of us needs that one person who will always speak the truth to us in love. We don’t need yes people who will tell us only what we want to hear and who will always go along with us, no matter what.

Sometimes, we need that person who can gently rebuke and correct us and show us the error of our ways. What we need is that someone who will hold us accountable.

I know I need that. I also know that I can probably be that person for someone else.

The question from Sunday still haunts me: Who is pouring into your life and discipling you, and whose life are you pouring into and discipling?

In order to fully experience the abundant life that Jesus promised, you need the whole gospel. That starts with salvation but doesn’t end there. The whole gospel starts with justification, continues on with sanctification, and concludes with glorification.

Or maybe it never stops. You never ever get over how amazing this gospel is, even in heaven. Not for all eternity.

That whole gospel experience includes you being discipled and you discipling someone. It means not being satisfied with being saved but continually striving and reaching toward spiritual maturity every single day.

Again, the question: who is discipling you and who are you discipling? Whose life are you pouring into and who is pouring into you?

It all starts with the patience of God. Once you get that, you will be astonished at how patient and understanding you are with others, because you know what it feels like to expect condemnation and receive mercy instead.

This Sunday, my pastor Aaron Bryant touched briefly on the recent White Lives Matter rally in Shelbyville and Murfreesboro. Basically what he said was that any group that puts itself up as superior to others and treats anyone different as inferior is missing the heart of the Gospel and categorically rejecting those whom Jesus lived and died for.

I say that whenever you decide who is eligible or not eligible to receive the Gospel message of salvation in Jesus, you have in essence rejected the message of the Gospel. When you choose to define the people or people groups for whom Jesus died, then you reject what He did.

Starting in Genesis, the Bible teaches that all human beings are created in the image of God and bear the Imago Dei, the image of God. The Bible says that God so loved the world– every human being– so much that He sent His only Son.

That means that every single person is someone created in the image of God for whom Jesus died. Every single person has worth. Who are you and I to dismiss or degrade someone for whom Jesus bled and died for?

That goes for people you disagree with politically. That goes for Presidents you don’t like. That goes for both liberals and conservatives (and us independents, too). That goes for people who hold racist, sexist, and other despicable views, bearing in mind that the Gospel message is that even the worst of humanity can be redeemed and transformed by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Just ask the Apostle Paul.

Never think for a minute that I condone their beliefs or their actions. I’m saying that I believe that when you exempt anyone from the grace of God, you nullify the grace of God itself.

In the Kingdom of God, there’s room for everyone. Every single race, ethnicity, tribe, and language will be present in Heaven, all united in adoration and fixed on the beautiful face of Jesus.

“Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Today at The Church at Avenue South, Pastor Aaron referenced the old 20/80 rule. Basically, 20% of any given local church will end up doing 80% of the ministry.

He said that in sports, not everyone is allowed on the field. In football, only 11 people can be on the field for any one team. The rest must sit on the sidelines or in the stands and spectate.

Not so in the kingdom of God. There shouldn’t be anyone spectating when it comes to service and ministry. We’re all called to engage and to serve. In the Book of Revelation, we are called a kingdom and priests. That means that we don’t pay someone else to do the work of God on earth. We’re the ones who do the work.

There’s a word for those who sit on the sidelines and watch– disobedience.

It’s interesting that the ones who do most of the complaining and gossiping and divisive talk in churches are usually the ones who are sitting on the sidelines and not engaged in active ministry.

I also think it’s important to not get so caught up in doing for God to where your faith becomes a performance-based religion instead of a relationship. There’s always a balance. To me, that happy medium is where you serve out of a love-filled heart from spending time with God.

The happy medium is where we serve and are served, where we minister to each other and with each other to others.

Each of us has gifts and unique talents. Each of us has been called to serve in a way that no one else on the planet can serve.

Let’s get off the sidelines and into the work of the ministry.