gospel Tag

DTOTD – step out of the crowd

” …but 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 slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but TO serve, and give his life as a ransom for many.” – Mark 10:45

It is really easy not to serve.   Seriously. I get it. There are so many reasons that we could choose to not serve. Busyness. Calendars. Appointments. Homework. Dinner routines. Not sure where to serve. Not sure how to serve. Covid. Pandemics. Fear. Unsure of your place. It’s not for me. They don’t need me, they have plenty already.

I recently read an article by Danny Franks titled 4 Reasons Volunteering Within the Church is Crucial.  In the article, he tells of a study, ” While 84% of respondents said their church encourages every adult to serve in some capacity, only 30% said they have personally served in the past year.” My upbringing was probably a little different than yours. I was born into this world with a pastor as a dad. One that was hard-working and passionate about what he did. My mom took the step to be a stay-at-home mom to raise me and my 3 siblings the best should could. But it also meant that we were at church a lot until maybe I could drive myself. But for some reason, I still showed up on Sunday mornings for church/youth group. I can remember being in middle school and going to help at church whether it was just to play with friends or to help run through drywall to take a wall down to revamp a space for students. As I entered high school, I was one that everyone knew and looked too. Not sure if I was the best person to always be looked to, but my youth pastor saw something in me that I did not know was there. He put me on stage to host our weekly youth services. He had me pray on stage. He had me lead group discussions. And after I graduated he helped me make the decision to go to bible college. Going to bible college was well, small and isolated. I went from living on the East Coast where I could drive to 2 of the largest metropolitan cities in the country, to finding myself surrounded by corn and bean fields. It was a world unlike anything I knew about growing up. It was flat and you could see as far as you wanted to. In this rural community, one thing remained true. Serving became something that not only was taught but it was expected. Every year in bible college there was a dedicated week to serve on a mission trip or in an area that you may have never been to. Serving on the weekends at local churches whether it was with adults, students, or kids was always welcomed. After graduating from bible college, my personal service became serving students full-time both on the East Coast and then back into the Midwest. Even when it came time to step away from full-time paid ministry, I knew God always called me to serve. Whether working in the church or in the business world there was no question that I would still make it a priority to serve in student ministry and eventually moving to the adult ministry.  

Serving has always been something that has been there in my being. It has been ingrained in me to serve is to be Jesus to those around me. Even in my darkest, most confusing, most fearful moments of questioning what I was doing, where I was going,  how I was going to be a good husband, how I was going to be a good dad, how I was going to provide and lead my family…..serving provided clarity of who I was and what I was supposed to be doing. Service to others didn’t take something away from me. It provided an anchor and a constant in my life. 

There are a few things that I have learned about serving others that I want others to experience either for the first time or for someone stepping back into serving after a break. 

1. Serving allows Jesus to work in you and through you – It is always interesting seeing in scripture, the rhythm that Jesus shows to his disciples. Serving always was part of what Jesus showed them for everyday living. In a recent cohort, Greg Curtis, the Guest Services Pastor at Eastside CC in Anaheim, CA, taught me this term – Outcome-based Discipleship. Essentially, this was all about the process of going and doing while learning and growing about Jesus. Hearing that phrase made me think about this idea that putting ourselves in places to serve not only allows us to show the love of Jesus to others, it allows Jesus to continue to mold us into his image.
2. Serving brings community – Have you been in a church where you just feel left out? Maybe it’s because at church you feel like just another face in the crowd. Can I encourage you to step out of the crowd? It is super easy and comfortable to come to church and just sit and sing and listen and sing and leave. I tried that, but it didn’t last long. Take a step out of the crowd and find out where you could serve. Whether it is inside the walls of the church or outside of the walls. When you take the step to serve, God will guide you to a place where you will find a community of people who will love you and care for you.
3. Jesus commanded us to do so – Not just in Mark 10:45, where Jesus says he did not come to be served but to serve but Jesus also shares in John 13, after getting on his hands and knees taking the place of a servant and washing his disciples’ feet, Jesus commands his disciples, ” A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; just as. I have loved you, you also are to love one another. BY THIS, ALL people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” ( John 13:34-35) Jesus did not say the commandment was to learn about him and sit on your butt and not do anything. Jesus did not that just going and attending a Sunday church service and going home is enough. Jesus said, love other people. Jesus commanded us to go into the world and tell others about his love and grace and to baptize those who believe. Jesus tells us that we are going to be his witnesses in our towns and regions and all over the world. Jesus tells us to pick up our own cross and follow Him daily. If we are to show love to others like Jesus showed to us, then that means we must step out, make sacrifices,  and follow his calling to serve others.

” 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

God has huge plans for you, both in and through your life. You have the chance to be part of serving others to allow them to get to experience Jesus in a way they never have before or maybe for the first time ever.   If you ever feel inadequate or maybe not ready or any of the other excuses we can use to stop us from serving you are not alone. Just look in scripture at all of the mess ups and the failures and the messed up people that God was able to use. Whether it is someone who tries to run away from God and ends up getting swallowed by a fish, or someone that follows Jesus for three years and then denies knowing him at all….those guys still gave testimony to who God is and brought about change in an entire city that was known for being crazy and the other is the one who leads the start of the early church.  

In our weakness, God supplies strength. Take a step out of the crowd and see how you can serve those around you. Get ready to receive the blessings of knowing exactly you who are and your purpose no matter what.