Aprons, not Bibs

I heard something about a church staff recently that really stuck with me. This
staff says, “We want our members to wear aprons, not bibs.”
Here’s what they meant:
Regarding bibs -
1. Bibs are for people who only want to be fed.
2. Bibs are for those who are not yet ready or willing to feed themselves.
3. Bibs are for those who are more interested in being served than in
serving.
4. Bibs are for those who insist that the church exists for them and their
needs.
5. Bibs are for babes in the faith, those who haven’t caught God’s vision for
the church, or who only were looking for fire insurance. Walk the aisle,
get dunked, get your name on the church and Sunday School rolls. – Fire
insurance.
But instead of bibs, we should be wearing aprons instead -
1. Aprons are for those who have a heart to serve others in Jesus’ name.
2. Aprons are for those who know that they are the church.
3. Aprons are for those who don’t mind getting their hands dirty.
4. Aprons are for those who take the time daily to feed their spiritual
hunger.
5. Aprons are for those who are growing in faith, and hunger to help others
grow.
Churches almost always want to grow. I have encountered a few churches in
the last twenty years, though, that are happy just the way they are. New
people tend to rock the boat and want change. I heard a Baptist associational
missionary tell about when he moved to a new town, and he went to the little
Baptist church two blocks down from his home. It was a primarily gray-haired
congregation, and those that weren’t gray were bald. It was a traditional
service – meaning two hymns, an offering with an organ offertory, a sermon
with three points, and an invitation when they sang Just As I Am and no one
came forward. Afterwards, he introduced himself to the pastor. The pastor
told him he knew who he was and what he did, and he said, “We like who we
are. You would probably be happier at XYZ Baptist church.” They were not
interested in getting any new members in their club. They didn’t want to be
challenged. They just wanted their needs met without having to make any
changes in their comfortable lives. He said that two years later, the little
church had lost a couple members due to death, but they were still not looking
for any new members. I think there was a sign by the door that said, “Last
Surviving Member Turn Out the Lights When You Leave.”
Church growth consultant, Win Arn, interviewed thousands of Christians in
America several years ago and asked them what they thought the church
existed for. Eighty-eight percent said, “The church exists to serve my needs
and the needs of my family.”
This means 88% of Christians in America are still wearing bibs. If you divided
up the people in your congregation/organization, how many would be on The
Apron List and how many would be on The Bib List? The numbers could
determine the level of exhaustion felt by your pastor.
 Lots of People Wearing Aprons = A Culture of Service
 Lots of People Wearing Bibs = A Culture of Being Served
On the night when He was betrayed, just hours before He was crucified, the
very Son of God took off His outer garments, wrapped a towel around His
waist, and washed His disciples’ feet. When He was done He said, “I have just
given you an example to follow.”
In other words, Jesus called His disciples to wear aprons, not bibs.
All of us have to wear bibs occasionally: when we are babies, when we are
sick, when we are eating lobster. But many of our congregations are filled
with people who almost always wear the proverbial bib. This is a sad truth.
Maybe we have people who have served faithfully for decades in particular
positions, but it’s always more about them (the power!) than it is a call to
service (Ew! The dirty work!) Maybe we’ve become so pastor-centric that
nobody knows how to do anything but the person with the seminary degree –
and the pastor has not corrected that kind of thinking. That’s not good
leadership, and it leads to really fast pastoral burn-out. Leadership is the single
best predictor for success in ministry. Pastors who know how to equip others
for leadership will excel.
To be fair, many gifted pastors serve people who erroneously assume that it’s
the pastor’s job to be the professional Christian. That’s what we pay him for.
There is an assumption in all kinds of communities, not just wealthy ones, that
it’s the Pastor’s Job to do all the preaching, teaching, praying, visiting, and
caring. In wealthy communities, where people are used to hiring out
everything from their housekeeping to their lawn mowing to their dog walking,
church staff are sometimes considered spiritual vendors. We pay the pastor to
marry, baptize and bury, to deliver pastoral care and a decent sermon. The
church and its staff work for us.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus about the pastor’s job
description. In Ephesians 4:11-12, Paul said, “11Now these are the gifts Christ
gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors
and teachers. 12Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do His (God’s)
work and build up the church, the body of Christ.”
Well, obviously Paul must have also written about the pastor’s responsibility to
go and do all the hospital visitation, go out at night and see all the new
prospects, be at all the meetings at church, go to the associational meetings,
state conventions, serve on state and regional boards, and be a productive
member of Kiwanis. That must be in the part of the Dead Sea scrolls they
haven’t found, yet.
Great communities are filled with more people who wear aprons than people
who wear bibs. Maybe the aprons are real and maybe they are figurative.
 I’m thinking about the homebound lady who phones other homebound
parishioners for a daily check-in.
 I’m thinking about the mom who helps another mom when one of the
kids has a meltdown in middle of the aisle at Target.
 I’m thinking about the person who walks the church guest down the hall
to the nursery or to the classroom they will feel comfortable in.
  I’m thinking about the person who automatically wipes off the tables
after a spill, someone who does it as a reflex, not after waiting to see if a
janitor is going to come out of a closet.
So let’s go back to that apron list I had originally.
1. Aprons are for those who have a heart to serve others in Jesus’ name.
a. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus said, “If you cling to your life, you will
lose it; but if you give it up for me, you will find it.”
2. Aprons are for those who know that they are the church. We are God’s
hands and feet to a hurting world, and it takes all of us working
together.
a. “You are God’s building,” Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:9. Our
foundation is Jesus Christ, and Christians are the structure built on
that foundation. In 1 Peter 2:5, Peter said that we are all “living
stones that God is building into His spiritual temple.” Paul said in
Ephesians 2:22 that as we are built together, we are “being made
part of this dwelling where God lives by His Spirit.” Back in 1
Corinthians Paul says we are the “temple of God,” and “the temple
of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 3:17; 6:19).
b. Romans 12:4-5 is evidence that the church consists of many
members as Paul says, “Just as our bodies have many parts and
each part has a special function, 5so it is with Christ’s body. We are
many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.”
3. Aprons are for those who don’t mind getting their hands dirty.
a. Jesus said, “For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served
but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many.”
4. Aprons are for those who take the time daily to feed their spiritual
hunger.
a. Not only do you need to be about the Lord’s business feeding and
serving others, but you need to make sure you are fed, too, so you
have the energy and tools to do what you are called to do.
5. Aprons are for those who are growing in faith, and who hunger to help
others grow.
a. If gas were suddenly selling for 50-cents a gallon at the Flash, you
would tell every friend and relative within a hundred miles. Get
 here! You need to fill up. What if we did the same thing with our
faith? Get here! You need to fill up!
Jesus came to serve and we need to follow in His footsteps. Growing in Christ
doesn’t mean becoming more and more of a boss who gets to tell everyone
else what to do. Growing in Christ means becoming more and more of a
servant.
So, if you haven’t already done so, get out your apron. Put it on and get to
serving. Jesus calls us to wear aprons, not bibs. Which are you wearing?
“Lord Jesus, thank You for feeding me daily with Your word. Fill me with Your
redeeming love. Open my eyes to clearly see the needs of those around me,
and then open my hands to serve them. Each day, strengthen me with Your
Spirit, so that I might choose to wear an apron, not a bib. This I pray in Your
name. Amen.”
–Author Unknown