To Serve or Not to Serve, that is the question… yes, I am a home school mom with Shakespeare on the brain, to the chagrin of my son 🙂 But, seriously, this is a relevant question for me these days! Just like most women, I am over booked, over tasked, over booked, over everything! And, it is fall. This is a time that I re-prioritize my world. I evaluate everything that I am scheduled to tackle and I ask the question, “To serve of not to serve.”
At our church, we have a time of recruiting new volunteers. I am often surprised by how few of younger women who chose to serve. Or younger men for that matter. I wonder why? Are they over programmed as well? Probably. Are they focused on their careers or their children? Highly probable. Do they feel that they do not have the experience, training or ability to serve at church? Could be. There are countless reasons why we do not help out and serve at church, whether ranging from selfish (I don’t have the time) or feelings of inadequacies (not feeling equipped) all are lacking in substance. Just look at the apostles! And, please know, I am preaching to myself!
Peter, John, Andrew just to mention a few were uneducated fishermen and men who worked with their hands until Christ called them out. Matthew was a despised tax collector until Jesus gave him a new mission. Until the Lord got a hold of these men, they would never have thought of becoming a servant of anyone much less their Messiah!
Paul, in the book of Romans, calls himself a bond servant. This man, who was highly educated and skilled in the scriptures, referred to himself as a lowly bond servant. Now, a bond servant was tied to the master for life. Usually, educated, he did not know freedom outside of the will of the master. He was responsible for most of the New Testament, yet he called himself regularly as a servant of Jesus.
So, I ask again, To Serve or Not to Serve?
He has given us so much, it is the least we can do! We are not called to sit on the pews and get fed, we are to serve others so they too, can be equipped to share the gospel. It is a sorry state of affairs if churches have to pay to have children cared for and taught. This should not be! How can we sit back and let others do what we are CALLED to do? How can we sit back and just soak up the blessing and disregard our neighbors? If visitors come to the doors of our church and we cannot even raise a finger to welcome them and show them around? Did Jesus call his church a Country Club?
Besides, I have found through the years, there is such a joy in the journey. It is thrilling to be able to share Christ and His love to someone else who may need a touch from Him today. It is time that we rise up and lower our view of what it is to be Christ like. Worship is living out our service. To worship is involves more than just singing songs, it is lifestyle. It is an expression of our love for Jesus. We need to learn to serve.
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