Whether you’re a fan or not, one thing is clear, kids love Pokemon Go! Ever since it came out, my kids have been in the middle of the craze, wanting to go places they have never had a desire to before. Chasing after Pikachu or Squirtle has gotten them out of the house and walking all over the county.?I can understand the excitement, as you are constantly rewarded with more when you capture Pokemon and take over gyms. Much like most games and apps, you are continually rewarded when you achieve more.
Compare that to what we do as a church tech; it?s quite a contrast. We strive every weekend to have a mistake free, better than last week, everything goes perfect weekend and don’t expect even a thank you or pat on the back for it. Because we are not supposed to. We only get noticed if something goes wrong; otherwise we are in the shadows, stealthy servants who are first to arrive and the last to leave.[quote]We only get noticed if something goes wrong; otherwise we are in the shadows.[/quote]
If this were a game, I wouldn’t want to play it.
We have one of the hardest jobs at church because we are expected to bat .1000 every weekend. No cues missed, no equipment failure, no mistakes made, everyone (not just techs) showing up in time ready to go. And if that all happens, everyone else gets the glory. We disappear into the darkness.?Why on earth would you want to do that?
What we have to remember is that we chose this role in the kingdom. Others have different roles and gifts, but we chose to use ours in this area. And in this area we won’t get are Pokemon (rewards) until the very end of the game.
Matthew 6:19 talks about storing up treasures in heaven, not on earth, and I think our role behind the scenes actually does this automatically for us. Here are two things to help remember that our rewards are not here and we should stop looking for them here. (You might get a few, but don’t count on them.)
1. Make sure you hear about the wins.
After a long weekend where you had to work hard so that most attenders didn’t know all the problems and issues that almost happened, it’s easy to shut down and check out. For me, I try to talk to a greeter or a ministry lead and hear about any cool stories that happened that weekend. Maybe a new person walked in for the first time this weekend and left so touched and moved by what God did in the service. Or maybe a kid accepted Christ in the kids class that morning. Hear the wins and know that you helped make that happen.[quote]Hear the wins and know that you helped make that happen.[/quote]
2. Make sure you encourage your team.
You might not hear the thank you yourself,?but that doesn’t mean you cant thank your team for a great job that weekend. You can also ask worship leaders, pastors, and other staff to “thank a tech person that morning”.
Bottom line, we have to constantly remind ourselves that we can’t compare our roles with others? in the kingdom; it will never look “fair”. All we can do is remember, in our game, all the points come at the very end.
