I enjoy exercising. I have exercised regularly for years.
When I was a teenager, I worked out primarily because I wanted to have a
perfect body (I never got there). Over time, my motivations for exercise have
dramatically shifted. I feel better when I exercise. I’m happier. I’m not as
anxious. I am more alert and awake to do the other things I love. I choose to
exercise because I see the evidence that it prevents physical atrophy and helps
me to be a better “me.”
The same can be said of serving within my local church.
Serving promotes personal growth, authentic discipleship, and prevents
spiritual atrophy.
I committed my life
to following Christ and was baptized when I was 17 years old. For several years
after that, I was growing and changing rapidly from the person I was before,
but I never chose to step up and serve in the church. I would hear recruit
teams share the needs their areas were experiencing, and I would hope to avoid
eye contact so that I didn’t have to make up some reason why I couldn’t give of
my time to help. Quite frankly, it wasn’t that I didn’t have time; I just
flat-out didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to make the time to give of myself. I didn’t see how I could add value
to my church by serving, and I didn’t see how serving would add value to my
life. My goodness how blind I was!
Fast-forward a few years. I was a college student in
Virginia attending a church in which “serve and be served” was a basic premise.
If you called this church “home,” you were encouraged to be an active participant
in the organization in some capacity. This “encouragement” didn’t come from a
perspective of legalism, or expectation, but rather of love and invitation.
This church really honed in on the God-given gifts and skills of the people
that were there and invited them to use those skills to advance God’s kingdom
right there.
How many of you out there would say that you want to be
valued, part of something meaningful, and as though you “belong?” I would be willing
to bet that most of you responded with an adamant, “Yes!”
During my years at this church, I began to feel wanted. I
quit believing that I was expendable, and I and started to realize that as a
Christ follower, I wasn’t just called to believe, I was invited to be
intricately woven into God’s family. Serving wasn’t just for the people that
had “arrived,” it was for me too!
I decided to sign up to work with this church’s children’s
ministry. I started out just filling in when someone would be absent, and then
steadily I became more and more involved. After several years, I was asked to
join the part-time staff at the church. Now, years later, one of my greatest
passions is God’s people---all of
God’s people---evaluating their God-given skills, talents, and interests and
finding a place within the body of Christ to use those gifts. Not everyone gets
excited about holding babies every week. Not everyone is comfortable leading.
But everyone has something to bring
to the table.
I think that as people we are wired to weigh opportunity
costs. We can’t have or do everything, so we make choices. Sometimes these
choices are based on pure motives like what is best for others. Sometimes our
choices are based on what has the most value. Sometimes our choices are just
for the sake of preference and what we would enjoy the most. I know I am not
the only one that struggles against the clock every day. I think that most of
us would say we want our time to matter and count towards something; life is
too short to waste. Some of you might be like me 10 years ago, and maybe you
just don’t see the benefit of giving of your time to your church.
But what if I told you that stepping up to serve all those
years ago changed me? What if I told you that for the first time, I belonged
somewhere? What if I said that plugging in and intentionally saying “no” to
other things (including my Sunday afternoon nap) grew me into someone that
finally had a place to call home? Serving in the Church enabled me to really
connect and develop relationships with people. Serving was the catalyst to me
honing in on who God created me to be, and I had so hungered for purpose and
meaning. Don’t we all? And what is more meaningful than owning our salvation
purchased by Christ, and embracing the Body of Christ called “the church?”
Some of you may legitimately be unable to serve during traditional times like Sunday mornings. It's ok to think outside of the box on your role in your church family! Maybe you attend a house church and there isn't a major organization to jump right into, or maybe you live abroad and culturally the dynamic of church is very different than American church. To all believers reading this, I boldly declare that the Body of Christ transcends culture and time restraints. Serving means giving of yourself to meet the needs of other believers out of your abundance of time and resources. I cannot tell you what this looks like for you personally, but I certainly encourage you to search God's heart on the matter! He loves you and you were made with His purposes!
With all of my heart I believe that we each have a vital
role. Paul writes to the church in Corinth that we are all equipped with
different gifts, and we are called to use them. Can you imagine if your stomach
quit working because it said, “This body doesn’t need me; the lungs have got
this one.” How crippling! In the same way, we are all a vital part of the
global, eternal Body of Christ. You are invited to be all in and more than
someone that watchers from the sidelines.
Like exercise, it may mean carving out the time because you
see the value added. But I promise that God uses your energy, time, and talents
to change the world when you commit them to Him, when you humbly submit your
time and energy to Him to be used up for His glory. Serving impacts your
community, your church, your peers, your family, and it impacts YOU! Give it a
try. Commit to giving of your time in an area that you are interested in. Give
it more than a few weeks---a year?—and see how your own heart changes as a
result.
