It Doesn’t Take Much to Feed a Corpse

Dalton Key

Those of us living in the Texas Panhandle have been enjoying a strange and remarkable Spring. Due to several weeks of above-average rainfall, the usually parched, arid earth has become a virtual paradise, exuding life with luscious blades of green.

A good friend fussed that he had already mowed more grass this year, by the first of June, than he mowed all summer long last year. His point: this year’s greenery is beautiful to look at but more difficult to take care of than the dirt of last year’s drought.

He was right and about more than grass. More effort has always been required to care for that which is alive and growing than for that which is dead and decaying. It doesn’t take much food to feed a corpse.

This principle is even true concerning churches. Vibrant, healthy congregations demand effort and hard work — they require the toils, prayers, and sweat of an energetic membership. By contrast, dead churches are easier to care for. More often than not, they just want to be left alone, being allowed to slowly return to the spiritual dust from which they came.

The next time you feel inclined to complain about the effort, the work, the sacrifice the church asks of you, remember this: dead churches, steeped in the stench of decay, make few demands; living churches are the ones requiring something of you!