No Christian has been saved to remain an island unto himself or herself. The Lord has work for each and every believer. Misdirected service can be very taxing. A proper understanding of your motivational and spiritual gift or gifts is certainly helpful. Generally speaking, there are things that all of us are to be doing: meeting needs as God directs, walking in sanctification, comforting and edifying one another.
Our God-given roles within our families are certainly a priority. I’m afraid, however, that many people mistake involvement in the local church with busyness. Do you realize that you can be spinning your wheels serving and yet be going nowhere? My desire is to feed you God’s Word properly so that you know, both by doctrine and experience, the love, grace, mercy, and beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ, the comfort of the Father, and the fullness of the Holy Ghost. I’m confident that as that takes place in you, the Lord will sovereignly work through you in this body.
I’m not looking for saints to be busy just for the sake of being busy. I’m looking for God to release Spirit-led, Spirit-directed ministry. If you’re an usher, it’s because the Lord has you there; likewise, in every other area of ministry.
You see, where God calls you to serve, He equips you to serve. You may be an intercessor during the night. You may answer phones during the day. Perhaps you have been called to teach in the children’s church or deliver groceries. The list goes on and on. The point that I want to make is that God-directed ministry will be fruitful.
No ministry is without a sacrifice or a cross of some sort. There’s no easy way to be a church janitor, but there is a Spirit-filled way that serves in such a way that makes vacuuming ‘heavenly’ business. One of my goals as a Pastor is to have everyone involved in the ministry in some way – involved in a home study, working in the Sunday School, answering phones, cleaning up after service, setting up the sanctuary, helping at the television studio, and so forth. Ephesians 2:21 says that “all the building fitly framed together grows”, so it is that we grow by working together.
The key to involvement is knowing that what you are doing is the will of God. That prevents burn-out or rust-out. Can you comfort a hurt brother or sister? Can you send a meal to a family that is bedridden because of illness? Can you pay a visit to the hospital? Can you write an ‘epistle’ of encouragement or thanks? There are so many ways the body is edified. Your commitment to those home studies is a practical “thank you” to those who spend time preparing.
I thank Jesus for those ‘unsung heroes’ that He has raised up, and continues to raise up, to serve Him in this body. For you see, keeping Jesus first,11 our heads in the clouds,12 our eyes ahead,13 and our ‘seed sown’,14 is involvement of the truest nature.
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not is vain in the Lord.”
(1 Cor. 15:58)
“For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.” (Heb. 6:10)
