I’ll admit it. I’m a HUGE Rob & Big fan. Those guys crack me up. I know that probably surprises some of you (I think I can actually hear the “unsubscribe” buttons being clicked!), but I do love the show. One of the phrases that Big Black throws out when it is time for he and Rob to get something done is that it is time to “do work”.

The same is true in ministry. There are times… as a matter of fact… most of the time… it is time to “do work”. What Big means (and I strongly I agree with) is that there are just times when you have to roll your sleeves up and get to work. I’m talking about physical, sweaty, hit your thumb and cuss (hopefully not out loud) work. My mom used to call it using a little “elbow grease”. The reason this is true is that money and stuff (computers, cameras or any type of gear) will only get you so far.

NewSpring is a large church with some great resources now, but it hasn’t always been that way. The church was built on the sweat and effort of many people who were willing to “do work”. This mentality is just a part of our culture, especially in the production area. The guys I work with rarely provide an answer to a production challenge by rattling off all the stuff we need to buy. They are quick to respond with solutions that usually involve more effort. That is one of the main reasons I love Joel, Ken, Lee, Karla and their teams because they are willing to “do work”.

We have the good fortune to talk to many people from churches all over the country. They seek our advice or ask us questions on how we plan or how we pull off some of the things we do. This still blows all of our minds because we know that we are still in need of so much learning and experience ourselves. We love sharing ideas and providing help anyway we can.

But… here is what frustrates me with a few who seek our input. Many times our answers to suggestions involve some element of “doing work”… like hard, sweaty, get dirty, hit your head on a 2×4 and cuss… work. It is amazing how many people these types of solutions turn off. I have heard it said in response to some of our suggestions, “um… that’s a lot of work… so we probably won’t be able to do that”. What? I can understand answers like, “that is too expensive or we don’t have someone with that skill set or we don’t have enough time”. But I can’t relate to “that is too much work”.

That is the opposite of Jesus, isn’t it? He was the One who set the standard when it was time to “do work”.

I know ministry is hard and comes with all sorts of battles that have nothing to do with work, but when it is time and souls are on the line, don’t be a person (or put up with a person) who isn’t willing to “do work”.