To serve or not to serve

February 23, 2010

If we are devoted to the cause of humanity, we shall soon be crushed and broken hearted, for we shall often meet with more ingratitude from men than we would from a dog; but if our motive is to love God, no ingratitude can hinder us from serving our fellow men.

-Oswald Chambers

There is a lot of talk in and out of church about "Who is the greatest." Is it the person with the microphone? The person who has the mega-church? Or the person who does not go to church to get involved with all the hypocrisy and politics? The greatest is like the least, the greatest is the servant of all.

People get hurt in churches around the country every week. Pastors are constantly met with cynicism and critique while the nominal Christian in the congregation does nothing to go deeper in their own relationship with Jesus. They say things like, "This church is not the right one for me" or "They did not meet my needs." The church was never meant to meet just your needs. It is a place where your needs should be met with the intention of you giving back. Service is a two-way street, when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples in John 13 he said, "Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

As followers of Jesus Christ we are commanded to wash one another's feet. This means whether our our title is Pastor, Apostle, or Pew sitter it is our duty to serve our fellow man for the glory of God.