Serve
Serving the church body is a great way to honor God and get connected with others. If you are interested in learning more about what the Bible says about service and how to start the process, please read below
Every believer has an example to serve
Later on in His ministry, Jesus attempted to explain the essence of His leadership to His disciples. He said to them, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25-28 ESV).
In this conversation with His disciples, Jesus explains that His authority was not like the typical human authority—oppressive and domineering. Rather, His authority was meant to profit others and build them up. He makes clear that He is making a new way, different from the world, where true leaders serve others. Paul shares a similar idea in the letter to the church of Philippi, “Though he [Jesus] was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8 ESV).
The point is: Jesus, the true King of the universe, used His powerful position not to get from others, but instead to give. The way of Jesus is for those in high positions to stoop down in order to lift up the lowly. Jesus is the ultimate example of a servant. The example of Jesus is meant to teach Christians to pursue service with an others mindset. Service is not about what you can get, but what you can humbly give.
Every believer is called to serve
Not only does Jesus serve as a model, He also functions as a coach sending His players into the game to accomplish His strategy. On the night of Jesus’ coming death, He sat down with His disciples to eat the Passover meal. After the meal, He stooped low to wash His disciples’ feet, which would have been surprising and unexpected to them. In this scene Jesus—the master of the disciples—took on the position of a servant, but not just as an example to them, but also as an invitation. Look at what He says to them after He washed their feet: “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” (John 13:12-15 ESV). Jesus is calling His people to follow in His footsteps.
This is an important point because many church attenders view Christian service as an optional activity, mostly reserved for the “other guy”. However, this is not the case. The way of Jesus is not to be served, but to serve others. The calling that God has placed on every child of His is to be a servant.
Every believer is gifted to serve
If every believer is called to serve, the next natural question is how? How is a Christian expected to serve others? Many Christians feel ill equipped and unable to serve others simply because they do not know what they have to offer. This leads us to the topic of spiritual gifts. When a person is saved by the grace of God through faith, the Holy Spirit provides spiritual gifts to the Christian—supplying God’s people with unique talents and abilities in order to serve His body.
The two primary passages discussing spiritual gifts in the New Testament are found in Romans 12:3-8 and 1 Corinthians 12:8-28. In these passages, Paul lists out a number of spiritual gifts and the ways in which they may bless the Body. Among these gifts are wisdom, discernment, and knowledge; teaching and exhorting; administrating and leading; and generosity and service. These lists, however, are not exhaustive; they broadly lay out examples of how God gifts His people for service to one another. Many Christians have created spiritual gift surveys as an attempt to help believers understand these gifts and which of them God may have supplied to them. We have created a tool to help you find your fit, click here.
All spiritual gifts are meant to build up the Church and foster closer relationships with God (1 Corinthians 12:7). If you are a Christian—following the example and invitation of Jesus—you have been given spiritual gifts by God. Do not believe the lie that you have nothing to offer the church body. You have abilities given by God in order to build up His church. You are therefore called to identify these gifts, to grow in them, and to utilize them to serve others for the common good and to the glory of God.
Every believer is needed to serve
Believers are not needed to serve because God lacks anything. He does not. As discussed above, every believer is given a unique gift by the Spirit of God in order to build up and strengthen the body. This begs the question, how important is it for every Christian to use their gifts? Some may feel like their gift is less important than others and that the church does not really need them. This is the very question Paul addresses to the church in Corinth.
In 1 Corinthians 12 he compares the spiritual gifts bestowed by the Holy Spirit to body parts—eyes, hands, head, feet. He says, “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 . . . (1 Corinthians 12:21-22 ESV).” Paul’s point is simple. There are body parts that seem more useful than others because of the amount they are used, but it is foolish to think this way. In fact, the body would cease to function properly without all the body parts playing their role. In the same way, every gift that the Holy Spirit gives is “indispensable”. It is absolutely needed in order for the body, the church, to function properly.
The point is this: the health of the church greatly depends on each believer using their gifts to build itself up. If you are a Christian, your involvement is absolutely necessary for the thriving of the local church. The gifts God has given you are intentional, deliberate, and necessary for the building up of His church. Do not take this lightly, but rather follow the example of Jesus, heed His call to serve, identify the gifts given to you by the Holy Spirit, and begin using them.
After reading the article above, we hope you realize the importance of serving. Click below to apply to serve.