At our church we are in the process of building a new office building. Considering the way our church is growing and that we anticipate, with God’s help, to be growing considerably more, the new office building is going to be a huge asset as we increase our effort of reaching out to our community.
Last Saturday we put up the trusses and roof sheeting, at least most of it. We had close to, if not more than a dozen men who had come out to help. Some of those who came out not only currently worked in the construction trades, most of us didn’t. Like myself, many of us had done similar things in the past but our skill level wasn’t that of the professionals.
When it comes to placing trusses, it’s best to leave the job to those who have the experience. That didn’t mean the rest of us just sat around and watched. There was lots of other jobs that needed to be done. Braces needed to be cut, fascia had to be hung and you need to have a ground crew preparing the trusses before the crane swung them up on top of the building for placement.
I don’t think anyone there was totally inexperienced as we all had spent considerable time around hammers, power saws and the like in our life times. It was just that we didn’t have the experience that the professionals did. We did however have an important part to play and without us there, the entire project wouldn’t have been accomplished anywhere nearly as fast. If you don’t mind the analogy of a theater production, everyone there had a part to play in this production, actors, stage hands, the director, ect.. Some parts are larger than others but without everyone doing their part, there is no play.
As we worked and I watched everyone doing his part, an old parable came to mind. Our Lord was partial to parables and like His, this little parable teaches a great lesson.
A new place of worship had just been completed. People came from near and far to see it. They admired the beauty of its windows, the walls, the carpet on the floors. Preachers were carried away with the handsome pulpit Bible.
On the roof a little two-penny Nail held down a shingle. This little nail heard the people praise everything else, but none mentioned the shingle nail or seemed to be conscious of its existence. The little nail became very angry and said, "If I am that insignificant, nobody will miss me if I quit.'So, the little nail pulled out, raced down the steep roof and fell on the soft ground below. That night a big rain came and the shingle nail was buried in the mud. The difference between being buried in the mud and holding down the shingle is this: before the nail was obscure but useful. Furthermore, it was protected under the shingle. Now it will soon be eaten up by rust.
The worst of the story is yet to come. The shingle that the nail held down was now loose, and without the cooperation from the nail, it blew away, leaving a hole in the roof. The same big rain that buried the nail leaked in through the vacant spot where the shingle was, running into the beautiful auditorium. The water ran down the walls, leaving them all marred. It leaked upon the Bible and stained its pages. It leaked upon the carpet and the beautiful rug was stained. All because one little nail failed to do its job.
Paul says in Rom_12:4-5 that we are "many members in one body, and all members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another" (NAS). We have a world to win to the Savior and each of us has a responsibility to that task. What kind of nail are you? One that does his part and is essential to the glory of the Lord or one that fails to do what he is capable of and has the ability to do?
Every nail is important and essential. What kind of nail are you in our Lord’s production?
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