Hi guys I want to touch on a subject that has been on my heart for some time now. I’ve had to wrestle with this struggle not only in myself but unfortunately I see it too often with others of the faith. That is the topic of serving. Recently I’ve experienced situations of Christians judging one another for not serving in the way that they feel that person ought to serve, and unfortunately that caused hurt feelings and those in question to feel unappreciated for the work they do for the church. 

During my preparation for this post I was asked to speak at a young adult camp on the Gifts of the Spirit. But what caught my attention as a divinely orchestrated event is that the theme of the camp was High King, High Service, High Calling. Lo and behold it came at the time I was drafting this post on serving. What a moment to stop and praise the Lord for His goodness. This not only helped me prepare for the lesson but also hone my study of service I had been preparing for you. 

If there’s one lesson Jesus left us with during his time on earth I think it was the concept of service. No matter how “good” you are or how “important” you are, or even how “busy” you are, you’re never too big to serve others and there is a time and a place for all services.

“And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭22‬:‭35‬-‭40‬ 

What is love?

““This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”‭‭John‬ ‭15‬:‭12‬-‭13‬

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”” ‭‭Mark‬ ‭10‬:‭45‬

Love is sacrifice, abandonment of one’s selfish desires, even to the point of death. Maybe not a true death is required in every situation, but certainly a death to the bondage of one’s flesh.

“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭13‬ 

Jesus, who we know to be the very son of God, the Word made flesh (John 3:16, John 1:1), came to this earth in the form of a poor human. He worked in the trades for years as a carpenter and never complained about it. I’m sure there were many days when Jesus’s flesh was tired and he wanted to go back to his heavenly life. But instead he chose to sacrifice himself and come to earth to serve on humans, to build tables and chairs for almost thirty years before ever starting ministry. 

Yet here we are, mere humans, who think we are too important, too busy, or too whatever to serve others. Jesus instructs us to serve as he did, even yet in his final hours he washed the dirty feet of his disciples. In spite of this, they still didn’t get the point. They had the audacity to have an argument over which of them was the greatest.

“A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise Lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.”‭‭Luke‬ ‭22‬:‭24‬-‭27‬ 

Jesus reminded them that leadership has nothing to do with power but everything to do with service. The best leaders are the best servers. As a result if we are truly humbling ourselves and coming under the authority of Christ then we ought to feel compelled to serve those around us. 

“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” ‭‭John‬ ‭13‬:‭3‬-‭5‬, ‭12‬-‭17‬ 

Jesus is looking for servant leaders who have a heart posture of gratitude for the grace they’ve been given. Jesus paid the ultimate price for our salvation, the least we can do is extend that same grace to others. It’s about the attitude of the heart. Out of that gratitude comes the act of worship through service.

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” ‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭23‬-‭24‬

For it is Christ who is our inheritance not fame. It doesn’t matter what we do or say, we are nothing without Christ. So how do you serve others? Is it with gratitude or with grumbling? A story I am reminded of is this story of Mary and Martha when Jesus came to visit them.

“Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭10‬:‭38‬-‭42‬ 

Martha was probably the older sister, or at least that’s my guess and Mary was the younger sister. Naturally when you have a big time evangelist coming through town with his whole posse I’m sure your first instinct is to welcome them into your home and serve a big meal for them. Well that might not be true of everyone, but that certainly seems to be the case with Martha. She really embodies the spirit of service here in this story. So where did she go wrong? If we are supposed to be serving others and that’s what she did then why did Jesus say Mary chose the better option?

Is it not a problem with the attitude you have when you are serving? Martha was angry at her sister for not helping. She wasn’t serving because she wanted to and that’s how she felt joy, she was serving because she felt like that was her obligation and that Mary ought to feel obligated as well. How often do we see this in our Christian lives? Especially at home or at church. There’s always that one person who grumbles and complains through every task they do. But if serving was what they truly felt called to, then where’s the joy? Service is another form of worship, so when you feel forced then you are no longer worshiping.

Now there is the element to consider that maybe you absolutely are meant to serve in that way, and it is your gift of the Spirit, something that God has placed on your heart and blessed you with the talent of. But after years of serving in that position, you get burned out. That’s understandable. Everyone feels tired, but that’s when I’d encourage you to realign your values and check to see if that’s still where God is calling you to serve or if maybe your heart needs realigned. 

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,” ‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭23‬ 

Our “Spiritual Gifts” are the main resource we use in service. That is how we serve with joy and gratitude, because it is out of the overwhelming blessing of the Spirit that we utilize that gift to serve others. Every single gift of the Spirit shows itself through different aspects of service. Let’s look at the different gifts;

Key Spiritual Gifts Described in Scripture

• Prophecy: Communicating a message from God.
• Serving/Helps: Assisting others and meeting practical needs in the church.
• Teaching: Instructing believers in the Word of God.
• Exhortation/Encouragement: Motivating and encouraging others.
• Giving: Contributing resources with generosity.
• Administration/Leadership: Organizing and directing to achieve goals.
• Healing & Miracles: Supernatural interventions.
• Discernment: Distinguishing between truth and falsehood.
• Tongues & Interpretation: Speaking in unknown languages and interpreting them.
• Wisdom & Knowledge: Understanding and applying divine truth.
• Apostleship: Establishing churches and leadership.

Every single one of those are different forms of serving. Serving is not always the practical cooking, cleaning and teaching. Sometimes serving is praying for someone, encouraging someone, giving wisdom, listening to the urging of the Spirit to give advice, preaching or teaching a class. They are all services to others. So when we think of the story of Mary and Martha, both women exhibited service in different ways. Mary served Jesus by listening and being attentive, and Martha served him by preparing and providing. Neither are objectively bad, but they each have a time and place. 

That’s what leads us back to this concept of service with gratitude. We need to have the humility and gratitude to realize that other people serve in different ways from us. And the discernment to understand when one is being lazy, and when one is being faithful to be attentive. If everyone is serving in children’s church and the worship team and the AV team, then who is left to listen? Who is there to take that message outside those four walls of that church? 

I’d like to introduce the idea of background and foreground servers. Background servers are the ones that work heartily in the background. Maybe they clean during the week or do the bulletins, you may never know who they are because you never see them working but they are there to serve and when it comes time for church, they are attentive and listen. Whereas foreground servers may be the ones teaching classes or leading worship or cleaning up after potluck. They’re there, you notice them, you see them serving. They may even miss church because they are serving. But everyone has a place in the church. 

Everyone is necessary for the growth and vitality of the body. Just because you can’t see them working, doesn’t mean they aren’t important to the function of the body. They are the internal organs, whereas you may be the hands and feet. 

The talk I did at a young adult camp the last couple of years was on the Spiritual Gifts in relation to the body of Christ and then in relation to service. As the Body of Christ we all play a part in the usefulness of that body. A body that lacks a member holds a deficit when compared to a complete body. 

‘For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. ‘ 1 Corinthians 12:12-25

Your service is never there for recognition or power, but rather as a result of the gratitude that comes from the grace you received in salvation and the gift of the Spirit in your life. It is meant to spread grace and love, not be flashy and praised. You might never get recognition for the service you do in the Kingdom of God, but imagine eternity and the crown of glory you will receive for the blessing of the work you did on earth. I don’t know about you but I serve for the crown, not for the flowers and cards. It should be out of the overflow of the heart in gratitude of the one who paid it all.

“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭4‬:‭8‬-‭11‬ ‭

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,” ‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭23‬