Service—Your Lifeline to Jesus

Serving others leads us out of ourselves into living more like Jesus does—selflessly. Almost everyone has work that they need to do for their own survival, which, nevertheless, benefits other people (if it is honest work!). Service takes us into the realm where we learn to give ourselves, expecting nothing in return, simply because it is the right and loving thing to do.[1] God always rewards those who follow Jesus in laying down their lives for 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. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Galatians 5:13-14

All scripture citations are from the English Standard Version (ESV) unless otherwise noted.

Why You Need This Connecter

Jesus said that He didn’t come to be served, but to serve, even to the point of laying His life down for others.[2] He saw a world of hurting, needy people, abandoned the “easy life” in Paradise above and dove into our humanity in order to be of service down here where darkness tramples the earth. He came to seek and save those who were lost. Aren’t you glad He “found” you and now has saved you? So is He! Our Father is a huge Rewarder of anyone who serves His will.[3] He has rewarded Jesus by raising Him to the highest place of joy and honor. He is eager to reward you as well.

Jesus will be working in you by His Spirit to help you become a servant of God. He wants you to get that end-of-life blessing we all covet: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”[4] But He also wants you to get the full benefit of becoming like Him in this life. He has given you His own servant’s heart. A new desire is welling up from the depths which like His delights in saying to God: “Behold, I have come to do Your will!”[5]

Desiring to be a servant of God’s will means that we will be drawn into the good things our loving Father has planned for us, including our destined purpose. Jesus says that as we seek Him first, “all other things” will be added to our life.[6] That’s a powerful promise of reward. A further tremendous benefit is that in seeking to be a servant the heart He has given us opens to compassion for others. This draws us out of the terrible bondage of our innate selfishness into experiencing God’s kind of selfless love. Being a servant, therefore, transforms us into becoming more like Jesus. This is perhaps the highest reward possible.

How It Works as a “Safety Net”

Service is very different from ordinary work, but not because it often takes place in a church or through a ministry. It doesn’t have to have “religious” trappings or settings for it to be service. The truth is that anything we do becomes service when it is done for the Lord, through the Lord and to the Lord. Eventually, we can approach even the work we do for money in this way, provided that what we are doing is of actual benefit to others and not immoral or illegal. However, we all have a tendency to self-deceive. Don’t imagine that just because you want to do everything for the Lord, you will. Even service for the Lord can become self-serving, if we're not careful.

All legitimate work serves the needs of other people in some way. What separates “service” from other kinds of work is usually that we are volunteering our time. This provides a powerful check on the way we go at it. In the workplace we can justify having all kinds of attitudes and behaviors while we are “slaving” for what in the USA is affectionately called the “Almighty Dollar.” However, when we are seeking to be servants of the Almighty God, our attitudes must match up with those of Jesus. This keeps us honest. If we don't treat people as Jesus would, if we can't keep a good-hearted spirit about us, our service stinks no matter how hard we are working!

Giving your time away in today’s material culture only makes sense if you are doing it because you believe the Lord is asking it of you. This is how the call to be of service—in any moment—works as a safety net. If I am not willing to lay my life down or set my agenda aside to be of service to the Lord, or if my attitude proves to be a stinker, then the call to service is showing me I need to have a “come to Jesus” meeting. I may never get that kind of feedback working on my paying job. Service, therefore, “works” to transform us, if we cooperate.

Problems to Avoid

The main problem to avoid is thinking that God needs your talent. Skills and abilities that you have cultivated, especially in the working world, are indeed God’s gifts to you and can be of great benefit in service to Him. But that is not why He called you! It is your heart He wants. If your heart is focused on Him and open with compassion to the needs of others, you are ready to be of good service, no matter what your skills and abilities may be. The Lord needs us teachable and loving, period. He needs our availability far more than our abilities.

To bring us into compliance the Lord may plunge us into something that seems beyond our understanding or capability. This is so that we will learn to rely on Him through prayer and trusting obedience—not ourselves. If you come into a time a service thinking that you already know what needs to be done and how to do it, you will miss the mark by a mile. Don’t power up in your own strength or try forcing things under your control. This results in steam-rolling others, losing the peace of Christ, and will bring burn-out in the long run.

The opposite problem, of course, is holding back. Don’t let the sight of other people’s gifts and abilities make you feel inadequate. You have a heart. You are available. That’s all that is really needed! Let God worry about how to put you to good use and how to get the results He wants. It almost always seems like the problem is too big and what we bring to the table is too small. A little boy once showed Andrew two fish and five loaves of bread. Andrew almost didn’t bring it to Jesus, yet to everyone's surprise, it was all that Jesus needed![7] That and the faith Andrew had to muster up in order to present so “pitiful” an offering to the Lord. Step out in faith and the Lord will meet you every time!

Keep Growing!

Life in the Spirit's Power  There are two sides to salvation: Jesus’ death for you and the Spirit’s life in you. Just as Jesus died for you the death you deserved, so the Holy Spirit has come to live in and through you the life you could not attain. As you look to Jesus in love and trust, the Holy Spirit (without any effort on your part) raises you into the new way of life. Walking in the Spirit is a great beginning; supernatural empowerment lies just ahead.

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