Improving Your Serve!

“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can and as long as you can.” John Wesley

    Did you hear the story about the set of identical twin boys born in Rome? They were given up for adoption immediately. One of the identical twins was taken to Spain where he was named, “Juan.” The other was taken to Saudi Arabia and he was named, “Amahl.” Juan and Amahl never knew each other during their lives, but when they became young men, they began to trace their roots and each discovered that he had a twin brother. So, they arranged to meet their biological families in Rome. It was an exciting day for all of the family members. They were at the airport as Juan arrived. They were so happy to see Juan; they greeted him as their long lost relative! Somehow though Amahl’s plane was running late, so, they had to leave. Somebody said, “You wait here and when Amahl arrives, bring him to our family reunion. They said, “Well, I’ve never seen Amahl before. How in the world will I recognize him?” They said, “That’s easy! If you have seen Juan you have seen Amahl!”

  In the Christian life, in the Church, there is no such thing as spiritual identical twins. We are all unique. No one is exactly alike. That’s why it’s so important for you to know that each believer is a gifted child of God. When you came to Christ, God gifted you to serve the Lord (1 Peter 4:10). Yet, how we serve the Lord falls into some typical categories.

   Some don’t serve. One pastor periodically noted by a name on his membership list in his study the letters “FBPO.” A friend’s curiosity got the best of him so finally he asked what “FBPO” meant. The pastor replied, “That means, ‘For burial purposes only.’ They’re a member of this church, but they don’t come. They don’t give. They don’t serve. Their name is on this church roll just so when they’re buried, their obituary will say, “He was a member of _______ Church.” FBPO. Every church has professing believers where we’d have to write FBPO beside their name. But there’s no retirement program this side of eternity. We’re saved to serve (Eph. 2:10). In the New Testament a local church is compared to a body. Every body part has a purpose. It’s also compared to a building. Every piece has a place. If someone is not serving and using their spiritual gift, one might as well write FBPO over his/her life. They’re disobedient and missing God’s calling on their life. It’s not safe to not use the gifts God has given you, as Jesus pointed out in His parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30).

  It’s tragic to watch the Lord chasten a believer that refuses to use what God has entrusted to them. There are also some telling symptoms of someone sitting on the sidelines. Typically, they’re sporadic in attendance, yet tend to be petty and critical. As they have little investment in the work of God, seemingly they justify it by fault-finding. Life for them is a selfie, yet it comes at a high price. Believers are saved to serve. Those who won’t often struggle with depression, loneliness and poor self-esteem. It’s nearly impossible to be emotionally healthy when one is self-absorbed.

  My friend, Scott Ziegler, bluntly says to such folk who attend his church, “If you’re not going to give or serve, please go somewhere else and leave that space for a lost person or someone who’s going to get involved.” 

  Some primarily serve reciprocally. It’s tempting to limit yourself to reciprocal service, yet you miss out on so much. Add to that, it obstructs your spiritual growth. Those who serve reciprocally serve in the nursery, children’s ministries, etc.…as long as they have children involved in those ministries. Afterwards, you’ll hear things like, “I did my time. It’s someone else’s turn.” Even older adults will focus on older adult ministries to serve.

  The Bible teaches that a church is a family. Every member is vital and needs to be involved in serving others. It’s why at Grace, we look for avenues for even children to be involved in service. And we encourage, where it’s appropriate, for parents to have their children serve alongside of them. Our sinful nature is narcissistic. Serving helps inoculate us against this malady. When I serve others where there’s no “payback,” it’s more easily done for God’s glory alone.

  A wonderful minority serve sacrificially. This is the biblical model. Someone who serves sacrificially serves as Jesus did. Only in eternity will their investment be fully rewarded. Like Jesus, they serve outside of their comfort zones. Think about it. What was “comfortable” about leaving heaven to come to earth in the Incarnation. What was comfortable about washing His disciples’ feet.

  The Christian life isn’t about playing it safe. The cross wasn’t safe. It’s about risk and putting it all on the line. Serving outside of our comfort spaces helps us grow in faith, as we’re more dependent on God’s enabling. We know too, the good that takes place is only of the Lord because we didn’t have it in ourselves. In nearly every church you know who these godly individuals are. If you ask, “Who are some of the most Christlike individuals in your church?” Invariably, their names come up.

  Every Christian can “help.” One spiritual gift listed out in 1 Corinthians 12:28 that’s available for every Christian is labeled “helping.” Even the youngest believer can “help.” It can be anything from picking up trash, setting-up or tearing down for a church function, watching children for a single parent, or helping someone move, or doing yardwork for a senior citizen. It could be as simple as dropping a note of encouragement. One of our best means of helping is prayer. We can all pray. Sometimes that’s the best help, particularly when we don’t know how to help, like when a friend has lost a loved one or is going through a time of suffering. 

  John Piper wrote a small yet powerful book every Christian should read, Don’t waste your life! Please don’t waste your life. Choose to serve. Invest in something that will count for eternity. Glorify God and show your gratitude for His great love to you by serving Him and serving others!

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

When a self-aborbed Queen lengthened a marathon....

“If we aren’t careful, instead of encouraging worshipping families, we become family worshippers.”  Jason Helopoulos

  Today is the Annual Chicago Marathon. Runners from all 50 states and more than 100 countries will set out to accomplish a personal dream of reaching the finish line in Grant Park. Chicago is one of the six major world marathons. It’s limited to 45,000 runners on a first-come, first-serve basis. The official distance of a marathon is 26 miles and 385 yards. My good friend, Scott Ziegler, is running the Chicago Marathon today.

  Marathons began in commemoration of the fabled run of the Greek soldier, Pheidippides. After their victory over the Persians, Pheidippides ran from Marathon to Athens to deliver the news. But modern marathoners run further than Pheidippides did…and they do so because of the self-absorbed whim of one English queen. Until 1908, marathons averaged 25 miles. The 1908 London marathon was originally to run from downtown Windsor to the White City Stadium, a distance of nearly twenty-six miles.

  Queen Alexandra, however, had another idea. Originally, she planned to watch the end of the grueling race from her royal box in the stadium, but she wanted her children and grandchildren to be able to view its beginning. So the starting line was extended to the lawn of Windsor Castle, so the Queen’s offspring could watch from the windows. That made the distance of the marathon 26 miles plus, 385 yards. While it might seem like a minor addition, it wasn’t for the frontrunner that year, Dorando Pietri. This twenty-three year old Italian led for most of the race yet collapsed less than 100 yards from the finish line. Those extra 385 yards cost him the race. And in 1921, the International Amateur Athletic Federation chose the distance of the London Marathon –26 miles, 385 yards—as the new standard course. The next time you watch those final, punishing moments of a marathon, remember Queen Alexandra who was thinking of family first but apparently no one else. I’m sure Dorando Pietri never forgot her.

  What’s wrong with “family first?” God must be first. Anything else is idolatry. Idolatry isn’t just worshipping a Buddha or some other idol. Idolatry is very insidious. And a great temptation for Christians, possibly because our culture is increasingly anti-family, is to “worship our family.”

  Am I suggesting we ignore or become anti-family? Absolutely not!  Marriage and children are gifts from God. Idolatry occurs when we take a good thing and make it a god thing. While we’re often blind to this idol, this idolatry isn’t new. God didn’t have Pharaoh’s attention (Exodus 11) until He killed all the firstborn sons in Egypt. Every plague that came down on Egypt confronted a god that they worshipped. God saved the final judgment, the killing of the firstborn, for the greatest idol of all – the idol of family. Finally, He had Pharaoh’s attention.

  When our family becomes our greatest source of meaning, purpose, significance and joy, it becomes idolatry. Jesus must be first in our life.  It’s tempting to make our family name and reputation great. Our focus though must be to make God’s name great, not ours. If we aren’t careful, instead of encouraging worshipping families, we become family worshippers. Recently, I read a blog by Jason Helopoulos. His article suggests possible signs we’re worshipping our family. Let me warn you, they’re very convicting.   

  We seldom, if ever, use our home to minister to others. When our home is seen primarily as a fortress set against the world, there’s a problem. A home centered on Christ is marked by growing hospitality. We gladly invite others into it for encouragement, strengthening, and to share Jesus. We realize what’s been given to us by way of our homes is a gift from God. We are managers of His gifts, not owners.  

  We hardly ever reach out to others. Do others really know us, even in our church? If our family is so insular that others don’t know us, there’s a problem. A Christian family filled with love will overflow to those around them. Neighbors, co-workers and relatives can’t help but be touched by the love that permeates in and flows out from our family.

  We seldom serve in our local church. If we’re so busy with “our schedule” or on just being a family that we can hardly attend any other church activities, there’s a problem. If parents can’t serve in any ministry, there needs to be a re-evaluation. And what better way to teach our children to serve as Jesus did, than by letting them see us serve. As a   family, we’re to see ourselves as part of the local church community, not separate from it, or more important than it, yet essential to it.

  We seldom have any time for those outside our family. When our family is always busy with its own activities, whether sports or music or even family vacations, to the point that we have little time for others, there’s a problem. The enrichment and growth of our children, even in spiritual things, isn’t to pull us away from people but towards them. It’s true that we only have so many years to train and teach our children while they’re at home. But what are we really teaching them? To be self-absorbed? Narcissistic? Are we teaching them they’re the center of life? Or, are we teaching that worshipping Christ…loving others is what’s most important?

  We seldom sacrifice. If our family is reluctant to give generously because of what it costs our family, there’s a problem. If we don’t give at all or give so sparingly because the family and our future, like our children’s college education comes first, we need to re-evaluate our finances. Somehow there is always an excuse for not using the money God has given us to worship Him or help others. Sadly, it’s usually our family’s need that provides the ground for that excuse. God’s children are to be generous and model generosity generationally, even to the point of giving sacrificially.

  We seldom have any flexibility. If others feel they’re always interrupting our family by calling, visiting, or proposing a time to get-together, there’s a problem. Others usually notice it before us. They begin to feel our family’s routine just can’t be interrupted. We forget that every minute is a gift and we’re stewards of the time God has given us. Our family should be known for flexibility and joy when others stop by, friendliness when called, and availability when needed.

  We seldom speak well of others. If our family tends to have an arrogant air about it, there’s a problem. It’s “we have it together, others don’t.” Our conversations are negative, critical and judgmental. God hates pride! Our families should be filled with thanking God for others. Our children should hear us commending and promoting others. Outsiders should find that we’re refreshing to their souls, rather than critical of their practices.

  Yes, we must enjoy and treasure our families. We need to pour out our lives and hearts into ministering to our spouse, raising our children in Christ, and filling our homes with the love and truth of Christ. However, in so doing, let’s make certain we’re worshippers of Jesus first, worshipping Him together in our worshipping families.