No pastor can carry out God's plan alone. He needs the help of loyal people who are supportive of his vision, willing to work in unity and harmony with him, and committed to the local church—because it takes everyone working together to get the job done!
Speaking as a pastor, my staff and I could not accomplish God's purpose for Rhema Bible Church without the help of all the members who volunteer and get involved.
Sometimes I like to think of God's plan for the functioning of the local church as a jigsaw puzzle. A jigsaw puzzle has many pieces of different shapes and colors. Some pieces make up the border—the structure or the frame—and the other pieces are designed to fit inside that frame. But all the pieces are made to fit together in a particular way to create a picture that can't be seen in each individual piece alone.
I once worked on a 3,000-piece jigsaw puzzle, and the first thing I did was find all the border pieces. Then I started putting together the frame, fitting as many pieces as I could into their proper places.
I eventually filled in enough of the puzzle to be able to recognize what the picture was supposed to be. But there were still several gaps from the pieces I hadn't hooked up yet. (Those missing pieces were lying off to the side, not doing me any good!) I even had whole segments of puzzle pieces joined together, ready to fill an empty space. But I couldn't fit them in until the other pieces were in place!
Now that's a good illustration of how some believers are in relation to a local church: they're like the missing pieces of a puzzle. They're off by themselves, not in fellowship with any local assembly and not committed to any particular work.
Perhaps they decided they didn't need to attend a church—that they could just get by listening to a radio or television preacher.
Well, those believers are outside the framework that God intended. They aren't "hooked up," taking their place in the structure of an established work and contributing to the plan of God for that church. In fact, their absence could even indirectly be hindering others from finding their proper place in a local body!
You see, every piece of a puzzle is important; if even one piece is missing, the picture won't be complete! And in much the same way, your presence, talents, and service are needed to complete the overall picture or vision of a local church.
Friend, I want you to realize that you are important to God's plan for the local church and that there is a place no one else but you can fill. I don't know what your place is; that's between you and God. But the important thing is that you find your place, get in it, and serve God faithfully in that capacity.
I believe that as we all find our proper position in the "puzzle," getting in the place where God wants us to be in the local church, we will present a beautiful picture of Jesus Christ to the world.
Excerpt permission granted by Faith Library Publications