And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” (Mark 9:35)
It seems like every time I turn around there is a need for people to help in some area of church life. From the nursery to the senior adult ministries, there seems to be a common thread. I recently heard another pastor make the statement that “people need to understand that they are called to be servants of God, not just volunteers”, and I believe that he is correct!
The scripture has a lot to say about servanthood, not about being a volunteer! When we give Jesus Christ His rightful place as Lord of our lives, we become servants of the King, not volunteers for a random cause. Take our annual fall festival for example. If all that we wished to accomplish was to give kids candy, then we could volunteer our candy-giving skills elsewhere and not here at the church. However, that is not all that we hope to accomplish. The same goes with everything that we do at Pleasant Grove (Food for the hungry, Medical Clinic, After School, etc.), we have the hope of impacting people with the love of Christ (ministries utilizing servants, not charities with volunteers).
When we serve, we become a functioning part of the body of Christ and we follow Jesus’ example. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). When we don’t serve, we are a non-functioning body part.
What is your spiritual gift? Where could you serve? Remember, you are not volunteering your time; you are serving the King of Kings with the gift He has given you!
Blessings,
Jeff