Serving
One of the more serious problems facing God’s Church, especially concerning discipleship, is the stark difference between many people’s viewpoint on service. We have ministers who want to act as supervisors while church members do the heavy lifting. We also have ministers who want to do all of the work, so not to inconvenience anyone else. Is it right for one’s self to affiliate with any of these viewpoints? Is there an acceptable middle position? Perhaps we must change our viewpoint completely.
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. I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”
John 13:12-20 ESV
Serving brothers
Jesus served His twelve disciples by washing their feet. I remember beginning my ministry at South Lindsay Baptist Church. The mentality that reigned supreme among the few adult sponsors was this: that adults are the supervisors and students are the workers. Why is it that way when, according to the example Jesus sets for us, the superior in position should actually serve those under him?
A preacher stood one Sunday morning to address His congregation. As the silver words poured from his mouth touching hearts and lives, he continued to mention a service project that the church was involved in during the course of the next month. The time came for the service project and many church members came to serve the community, but the conspicuous absence of the preacher caused many to think that the service project may not have been as important as he made it out to be. Nevertheless, they served diligently and became tired. After one hour had passed, the preacher pulled up to where the congregation carried out their service project and began to unload his vehicle. He visited each individual and gave him or her a bottle of water and offered encouragement in the work that they were doing. Attitudes of people began to change. The preacher did not stand over them telling them what to do. Instead, he ministered to them as they ministered to others. Obviously, in their minds, the service project took on a whole new importance. If the preacher was willing to serve them as they served others, then the preacher truly cared about them and the ministry God chose to have through them.
Jesus looks at His disciples after He washes their feet and asks, “Do you understand what I have done for you?” Just as the preacher in the above story worked to revitalize those who were serving under Him, Jesus worked to revitalize His disciples as they were serving under Him in a dirty world. As we do work in that dirty world, Christ also revitalizes us. This is one reason why corporate worship is so important. When we follow Christ’s example, not only do we act as Christ by revitalizing those under us but we also spur on, in a greater capacity, the act of discipleship.
Jesus used His act of service toward His disciples in order that they might gain a deeper spiritual understanding about washing one another’s feet. They were to keep each other clean, and hold each other accountable. They were to keep the filth of this world from tarnishing the purity that was placed on them through the relationship they had with Christ. The same goes for us when considering accountability. As we serve we use our service to those under us, either in maturity or position, to disciple them.
There is a young man that I began to take home from church. He is an atheist and has just recently started to explore the possibility of God’s existence. While we are in my vehicle, I don’t push the ‘Jesus’ initiative. I just talk with him. My act of service is giving him a ride to his house or to his friend’s house. This act of service allows me to show him, by my example, some about the God that we serve. I was able to provide him with a free copy of my book, Rules of Engagement. He hears as God glorifying music plays in the background and I talk about what God is doing. I have an opportunity to disciple this young man, though he is not yet a believer, because I am serving him.
This, however, does not give us the authority to try and do everything for everyone else. By trying to do everything, we limit opportunities for service that others can have and we so easily become burned out in the ministry. We must give others a chance to serve God as well.
Being served by brothers
Three weeks after our wedding, the great people at South Lindsay organized a food pounding for my wife and me. I, of course, had never heard of a food pounding. Nor did I know what to expect. My first response, after I learned what a food pounding was, was in disagreement. I am here to serve these people. Their money can be used for something better that stocking my house with food. I really don’t like people spending money on me. I did not stop it, because that just would have been rude, and my wife and I received an overflow of food for our kitchen.
I am so guilty of not considering Jesus’ teaching. Wash each other’s feet. Keep each other clean. Serve one another. If I am here to serve others in the name of Christ Jesus, then I have to believe that all other believers are also here to serve others in the name of Christ Jesus. This is where the concept of one community under Jesus Christ determines our ministry within the body. We are all to be constantly serving one another. It is not the ministry of an individual, which we are so guilty of making it. It is the ministry of God through the body of Jesus Christ, or the Universal Church. So, then, here is the challenge: we must not only be committed to service for the kingdom of God but also to accepting and being blessed by the service of others for the kingdom of God. Ministry is not a competition or a one-man show. Discipleship is not a one-way imputation. Service, which is a doorway into greater discipleship, is mutual among all believers. None should sit on the bench. None should play the field alone. We are all mutual beneficiaries of each other’s service.
This means that failing to serve and failing to accept service from a brother or sister greatly displeases the God we serve. Not only do we limit the opportunity for discipleship, but we also disobey a direct command from Christ, and remember: teaching others to obey what Christ commanded is a key concept within discipleship. We cannot teach others to obey Christ if we are not obeying Christ. Then, as we obey Christ’s commands, we teach others, implicitly and explicitly, to obey those same commands and prove God’s faithfulness to us through those commands.
Serving with brothers
If we are to constantly serve one another, as God’s people, should we not also serve along side each other for God’s glory in a world that denies Christ? We seem to forget that God gives the same commands to all of His people, and within His commands is the command to serve. Why then do we choose to spend our time arguing about predestination, evolution, universalism, justification and free will? Why do we continue to bicker with one another about how much church money should be spent where or what kind of music is acceptable in God’s church buildings? We should, instead, devote our time to service in whatever capacity God calls us. This is not to say that philosophical debate is wrong. I believe it is beneficial. As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.12 In order for iron to be sharpened it must clash together. We must be careful, though, not to allow our disagreements to come between us and, in coming between us, limit our service to God. We are one body under the lordship of Jesus Christ. We are not Baptists, Lutherans, Catholics, etc.; though we may agree with one sect more than others. We are God’s body. We are the image of God to a lost world. If we choose to stand against one another, then we fail to represent the perfect image of God the way that God would have us to represent His image. We must stand strong by standing as a unified body under the lordship of Jesus Christ.
Serving enemies
After washing His disciples’ feet, Jesus, referring to Judas who would later betray Him, says, “I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen.”13 Jesus chose the twelve. Jesus knew the twelve. He specifically knew that Judas was not committed to Him, yet chose to serve Judas equally with the other disciples.
How many times do we serve brothers and sisters within the Church, and then ignore or forsake the community outside of our churches? If serving our family in Christ within the church grants us opportunity for greater discipleship, how much more would serving a lost world grant us those same opportunities? Jesus used Judas’ unbelief to teach all twelve that the scriptures were dependable and to reassure His disciples, including Judas, that He was who He claimed to be. Just as Jesus words did not change Judas’ mind concerning the betrayal that would take place soon after their conversation, we should not be surprised when a lost world refuses to change its mind about the God we serve. This does not mean that we should not serve them, because each act of service presents a new opportunity to disciple. The more we disciple a lost world, the more God is revealed to that lost world through us. The more God is revealed to a lost world, the greater opportunity there is for members of the lost world to return to Christ.
Philosophy of service
So then, we dedicate our lives to unreserved service. We all work toward the same purpose: discipling one another and discipling the world around us. Service creates for us a platform. The platform enables us to spur brothers and sisters on to a greater maturity in the faith and allows us to share the Gospel effectively. That platform also connects us with a family of believers who will teach us about the God we serve and hold us accountable in our walk with Jesus Christ. Service is a core aspect of the Christian life as a whole that we have lost sight of because we are generally afraid to work and run from commitment. In treating service the way that we do on most occasions, we disobey God and fail to represent God accurately. God created us for service. Through Christ, God restored us to service. In eternity, we will remain for service to our God. We cannot have a Christian life without service. We cannot have a Christian ministry without service. We cannot have a greater discipleship without service: both to one another and to the world around us.