Service is the only way

Yesterday we had our annual Ministry Team Fair. We encouraged people to find a ministry in our church and begin to serve there. I spent the last week iced and snowed in for a couple of days and really began thinking about it.

WE live in a world that hass the motto, “Do whatever you must to conquer gravity” Up is the direction of greatness. Many people think the word privilege and the word serving should not be in the same sentence. When you think of someone who is privileged you think of someone who has servants not someone who needs to be a servant. We live in a world that says to be privileged is to be on the way up to be over others.
In our culture we use words like upscale, up and coming, upwardly mobile, upper class. Compare those to words like down and out, downscale, down hill, and down hearted.

But then the most intriguing man whoever walked this earth comes along. A man who could have chosen the view from the top had he wanted it, and Jesus of Nazareth chose a downward path.
In this radical counter culture kingdom that he formed he said downward mobility is the path of greatness. In Christ’s Church the noblest honor of all is the privilege of serving. The roll of servant is the highest calling in the kingdom of God. There is no role in the kingdom of God that the role of servant.

There are many job descriptions in the body of Christ but there is only one role and that role is servant. The reason this needs to be talked about is because the body of Christ can only function well when everyone of us understand that our main task in the Church is to be servants. It seems to be there are some who want the benefits of being in the body but not the responsibility of being a servant. That should not be surprising because it is human nature. Human nature is to want the benefit without the effort.

We want the benefit withoug the effort. There are some in the church who want the church to be everything the bible says the church is supposed to be for them but not through them.

I have had many calls from people about the church over the years. The call I usually get is What can you church do for us? I have never been asked “How can we serve Jesus at your Church?”

Are you one of those Christians who won’t minster but expect ministry? Or are you following Jesus to greatness on the path of downward mobility.