Volunteerism

A volunteer is a person who voluntarily undertakes or expresses a willingness to undertake a service. Our community is dependent upon volunteers. There are thousands of individuals within our Glasgow/Barren County borders who give their time, energy and finances to help with all kinds of worthy humanitarian efforts.

I had the privilege of attending the appreciation banquet for some of the volunteers of T. J. Samson Hospital recently. I was humbled as I watched men and women in their seventies and eighties slowly go forward to be honored for another year of voluntary service to the hospital.

I have watched the DAV (Disabled American Veterans) proudly present the flag and do twenty-one gun salutes throughout my years here. They do it voluntarily.

Community Relief, Community Medical Care, Boys and Girls Clubs, churches, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and many more agencies are run by volunteers. I am challenged by the dedication and compassion of so many.

Volunteerism is the basis of our American way of life. Think about it. How many of your friends and relatives have volunteered throughout the years to serve their fellow man? It is overwhelming.

One person at the hospital appreciation banquet had given twenty seven thousand hours of service over the years. At $8.00 an hour that comes to $216,000.00! Volunteers are irreplaceable.

Think of all that would go undone if it were not for volunteers. Think of the churches that could do nothing without the Lord’s motivation of His people to work in His vineyard as volunteers.

I believe the foundation of our volunteerism in the United States comes from our Judeo-Christian heritage. Throughout the Bible you find in the Old and New Testaments individuals who gave their all as volunteers. You and I are the products of these examples throughout the millenniums.

One thing did concern me as I observed the worthy volunteers receiving their tokens of appreciation. That one thing was most of the volunteers, at least 90% of them, were over seventy years of age.

Churches are also facing this alarming trend today. Look around when you go to church. You will be hard pressed to find many forty, fifty or sixty year olds as dedicated and committed as the older folks.

I ask myself why? I am a full time minister of the gospel. I pastor an evangelical church. We do have many younger volunteers but our seniors have led the way for decades now.

I think it has something to do with our level of commitment as “baby boomers” and the generations that have come after us. We have left our foundation of brotherly love and taken on a “me first” narcissistic attitude. If we are not being served, we do not want to be involved.

I think we all need to stop and analyze what is really important in life. Jesus said in Luke 12:15-21, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. “And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.” ’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ “So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

That which will be most satisfying and last the longest is the compassionate service we contribute to our fellow man for the glory of God. Jesus said it this way in Matthew 6:19-21, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
I am proud to be a part of the Glasgow/Barren County Community. I believe we lead the way in volunteerism. It only remains for each one of us to take an inventory of our lives and make sure that out of the 168 hours we have in each week, we are volunteering some of those hours to help our fellow man.

 

Pastor Mike Padgett