By Elder Johnny Kim

This past Christmas break, my family and I had a chance to visit Joshua Tree National Park. It was a neat experience and the whole time we were there, we couldn’t help but feel as if we were on a different planet. With the landscape dotted with the namesake Joshua trees which look like they are straight out of a Dr. Seuss book, it is definitely a testament to God’s creativity. We spent the day driving around the park and stopping every now and then to take in the views and each time we got out of the car, we were always careful to abide by one of the main rules of the park: “Leave No Trace”. As with other National Parks, the rule exists to ensure that not even a hint of evidence of your visit is left behind, whether in the form of litter, disturbed plant life, or even footprints outside of marked trails. So while over a million people might visit Joshua Tree each year, each one taking in the sights, smells, and sounds, inevitably it always looks as if there’s never been any human activity ever to have taken place within its borders.

For some of us, our attitudes towards church can sometimes resemble our attitudes when visiting a National Park. In the same way we aim to appreciate from a distance the natural surroundings and take in the beauty and wonders of the park, we might be prone to limiting our church experience to just appreciating church merely from a distance as well. While we might be encouraged at seeing evidence of God working in people’s lives and challenged by hearing the preaching of His Word, we can easily relegate ourselves to being just mere observers and spectators, simply there to only take in the sights, smells, and sounds. We might find ourselves to be content to receive the limited benefits associated with just showing up to church and just being present, not having any desire to actually become involved in the church in a real and tangible way. Ways that might require significantly more of our time, effort, resources, and heart. Weirdly, it is almost as if we treat church itself as a place where we should “Leave No Trace”.

Yet when it comes to church, the rule to “Leave No Trace” does not apply. Not even close! In fact, it’s the complete opposite that should be happening if our hearts are of the right mindset regarding church and how God truly desires for it to function. Church requires of us active participation, not passive observation, and that means getting our hands dirty and making a sort of “mess” in the course of building ministries, building relationships, and building opportunities for people to know and grow closer to Jesus Christ. In Colossians 1:28-29, we read the Apostle Paul making this case for the church at Colossae with principles that apply for church today.

Though it should never be a goal or a source of motivation for why we would want to be involved in the life of the church, perhaps it’s a helpful evaluation for us to consider what evidence there might be within the church and in the lives of people that would testify to our being active and involved. Like the evidence of spiritual fruit, do we leave behind any trace of how much we love the church and how much we love Christ? Do the lives of people bear traces of the giving of ourselves to counsel, disciple, and teach them? Do ministries bear traces of our sacrifice, commitment, and humility as we faithfully serve in them week after week? Do even the church facilities and various tools and equipment for ministry bear traces of the joyful giving of our financial resources?

Let us spur one another toward striving to be actively involved in the life of the church. Passive observation is fine for protected National Parks, but Christ’s church requires active participation; the kind that’s bound to leave behind a “mess” and traces of our faithfulness.