May 08, 2009
Sweat Equity
My church is still looking for a permanent facility to call home and last Sunday we were told that one of the properties being considered will require some sweat equity. As we were leaving the worship service one of our young men who is in high school quipped, “You can have my sweat.” You’ve got to love the sacrificial attitude. I think we can say that Jesus too has sweat equity in all who believe in him. Going up to pray on the Mount of Olives he asked the Father if he were willing, to take the cup from him. “And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” (Luke 22:44)
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Gail;
-----Prayer is validated by sweat equity. A company’s balance sheet reports what it has available to use in reaching its goals. The asset section reports the material, supplies, and tools it has available, the liability and equity section indicates how those assets became available. The greater the amount of equity and the less the amount of liabilities indicates that the company came to own its assets by its own efforts. In a simplified manner of speaking, its ownership of the assets is more secure as the greater the amount of them it earned is to the amount it had to borrow for them.
-----In much the same manner, the more we invest effort in what we pray for, the more valid our prayers are. The less effort we invest in them, then more is the effort we obviously expect to borrow from others. It is not in itself bad to borrow. None of us are anywhere near complete in all the skills and opportunities life requires, so we need to look to others for additional effort. But prayer not met with effort where skill and opportunity is available in the one praying begins to ring hollow the more he looks for others to actually accomplish the deed.
-----That is not to say borrowing to buy a completed facility is not investing sweat. The members of the church make their effort in contributing towards the down payment, then they make further effort in obligating themselves to contribute towards the future payments. Nor is it to say that finding various churches and businesses in the community willing to donate materials and labor is not sweat equity, for diligently, respectfully, and humbly seeking them out is. What is living on the liability is to pray and sit. Whatever effort we invest in the stuff of our prayers authenticates them.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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