God is all about flow. He pours in and you pour out. That's true in the natural. I won't be graphic but there is a book for children about this.. Everybody....well you know. If you eat and drink it has to move thru to keep you nourished or you will die eventually of severe constipation and bladder infection.
The same thing is true spiritually. If you are being poured into constantly and have no outlet you will die spiritually. Many churches are good at feeding but provide no outlet for you to do what God has called you to do. IF you stay there you will suffer spiritual stoppage and eventually die spiritually.
In the natural if you went to a doctor for this problem and his diagnosis was you need to spit more, sweat more, we need to bleed you but never found the proper outlet for the issue, you would die. He may even decide to do some surgery. That doesn't solve the problem. Just stop gaps it.
A good doctor would do what he could do to see to it that the assigned outlets for your body are functioning properly so this problem doesn't persist.
In the church many times this never happens.
God pours into us, and then he anoints us, gifts us, calls us to do ministry certain ways. Outlets as it were. IF the church you are in doesn't recognize and allow those outlets to flow, they are condemning you to spiritual constipation and eventual death. IF you want to see what various outlets there are for the Body of Christ as expressed in YOU look at 1 Corinthians 12 for a start.
Yet church leaders many times will stop up the gifts among them and expect people to give the way THEY determine. Like the doctor saying, just spit more.. That'll cure your bladder issues.
There are prescribed "outlets" that Pastors love. Someone to set chairs, someone to wash windows, someone to usher and greet and the outlet they love best is the outlet of giving money. OF course they love an audience, someone to clap, say amen, sing along, stand and sit on cue and show up next week.
Now to be fair, those are all good, they just may not be the full outlet for the Gift God invested in you. You MUST find a way to express what God has placed in you or you will start to feel uncomfortable...stopped up....dying.
There are fellowships DYING for your gift. Desperate for someone who has what you have to give. Go THERE. This is the essence of being what God called you to be.
I'm sorry to say, much of the western church doesn't have a clue as to what I am saying. If you are a senior leader, you need to look around. What is happening with those gifts in your church. Are they flowing or has tradition and structure stopped it up?
The word of the Lord is...Let my People GO to come to Worship and Serve me as I designed them to.
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