Why I serve

A few weeks ago, I was asked why I serve, Im going to try and answer this question in the next five minutes. There are many quote-unquote "reasons" why people serve. Some do it out of obligation, some because they think they have to. Let me tell you, if you feel you HAVE to, its not service. The reason that we serve is because we are transformed into the image of Christ, transformed from what we once were. What I really just told you is that we serve because we have a different perspective from what we did have. You see, when you became a christian, what happened? You were transformed, changed, whatever word you want to use, the end result is that you started with one perspective and had a shift to another perspective, (hopefully) one that views God as the chief end of man. What happened next, you started growing in faith, love, joy, peace and all of the fruits of the spirit. But what changed as a result? Our actions did. Why did our actions change? Because we (hopefully), are trying to grow and become more like Christ. The life of Christ, while He was with His disciples, was all about service. Everything that Jesus did was about service. He gave and gave.



Im going to challenge a verse of scripture really quickly that is brutally taken out of context theologically. In the group bible study that I am a part of on sunday nights with Joe, we go through Acts. We just got done studying chapter 20, and there is a verse in there, verse 35b. It says "It is better to give then to receive" Most churches take that as tithes and giving money. And while I am not saying dont tithe, do understand that that verse has nothing to do with money, at least in a tithing sense. In the context of that chapter, what Paul is talking about is serving. If you read that chapter, it talks about serving and giving in service. And why would Paul do that? Because serving is again at the heart of the character of Jesus and all that He did.



Let me use an example, bring it a little closer to home.... If all of you would not mind participating, if your married (if not just imagine for me), how many of you tell your spouse that you love them... Who or what told you to do that? Hopefully it wasnt your spouse. Do you need to do it? Yes. Should you do it? Yes. But is that why you do it? No. See, you tell your spouse that you love them because you care for them, they are important to you, you do it because it matters enough to you. It is the same way with service. As we grow in our relationship with Christ, the natural reaction to following and loving Jesus is to serve. It is giving to the people that He leads you to, loving, cherishing, holding, etc. Serving come not out of a spirit of obligation, but of love. Serving is the overflow of your love for Christ, just as all the special things you do for your spouse stems from the love that you have for them. You act not because you feel the obligation or the requirement to satisfy your act of "service" or "serving" for the day, but because you love and passion for them compels you to act, in a word, it drives you to act. It needs to be the same way with God. Now am I saying that if you dont serve you are a "bad" person? Am I saying that if you don't serve you don't love God? NO! What I am saying is that the heart of service stems from your joy and perspective of Christ in your life, and the overflow is what give you the desire to serve.



Serving is what we are called to do, called to be... servants. Remember Peter, how when he was asked for money by a beggar, remember what he did? He told the guy to walk again with the power of Jesus. Notice that it wasn't money, it was living the Christian walk. He was following the call of Jesus, the call to go and serve, go and reach... go. Now please realize that I am not railing against y'all, I find living this charge out as well. I have viewed tithing as the end all, which is a wrong perspective, but thats not what I am talking about here (nor am I saying to stop tithing in place of serving, please don't think I am advocating that). All I am talking about here is serving Jesus, be it in the church, community, family, or wherever. Simply this, serving is finding joy in the heart of Christ... Loving and serving others.



So to answer why I serve, very simply it is this: As I walk with the Lord and am transformed daily into being more like Him, serving comes naturally, because the more I see Him in perspective, the more I realize that it really is all about Him.