Back Row Bad

Hiding from Jesus is always a mistake. To be protected from the Giver of Life is a terribly unsafe place.

When we gather with people in hopes of spending time with Jesus and being influenced by His Spirit, the atmosphere is improved when we are all on the front row, and when we are all involved in the possibility of both receiving and offering ministry. No back row. No hiding place. No second-rate servants. The ministry of the body of Christ is the work of all the saints.

And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness. Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head—Christ. From Him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.
(Ephesians 4:11-16 Holman Christian Standard Bible ©®)