Serving without Sinking

Pete Evans | December 2013 - Highfields Book of the Month

By John Hindley - (2013) New Malden: The Good Book Company

If you've been part of a local church for any length of time then you will no doubt have been approached at some point (hopefully not on the first day you attended) about serving. And, so the story goes, you were probably very happy about doing so at first. It was great to get involved, great to feel like you were contributing to the work of the gospel, great to serve your church family and impact the local community for Christ.

But for many of us (me included!) all too often the story doesn’t end there. Service, which was once a joy, becomes a burden. You dread Sunday morning almost more than Monday morning. The list of ministry responsibilities you now own throughout the week seem far too great to be reasonable. You often moan to your spouse about the people in the congregation who don't do as much as you. The feeling as you leave the building after your ministry is finished is one of relief – the rest of the day is yours to relax.

One of the great blessings of being part of a church like Highfields is that there is a lot going on. People serve in hundreds of different ways. But the danger, in all the gospel busyness, is that we lose our perspective of the grace and joy of serving the God who loves us. Service is given dutifully, grudgingly, even bitterly, or not at all. We ask 'Why does God place this burden upon us?' We sink in our service.

John Hindley writes:

Christians serve for many kinds of reasons – and almost all of them are flawed. I know my motives are mixed at best, wrong at worst…

Jesus does not want you to measure your life by your service of Him. He does not want your service to get in the way of your love for Him. He did not come to be served by you – He came to serve you.

If we grasp this, then we will be set free to enjoy His love. And then, oddly, we will also be set free to serve Him longer, harder, braver, truer than we ever could otherwise. This is joy, and we'll only find it in Christ.

This is a book that many of us need to read. I know I did, and even as I write this I know I could do with reading it again. It's a book that reminds us of how God has served us in the person and work of the Lord Jesus and it helps us to apply that truth to our service in the church. If you are feeling worn out, frustrated or bitter about ministry, take some time to read this and re-think your service in light of the gospel. It's joy not duty which is the great fuel for service and we find it in Jesus, the one who serves us.