“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
Colossians 3:23,24Colossians 3:23,24
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
23 Do your work willingly, as though you were serving the Lord himself, and not just your earthly master. 24 In fact, the Lord Christ is the one you are really serving, and you know that he will reward you.
WP-Bible plugin
When I think of the church impacting the community around them, the first thoughts I have are concerning what actions need to take place. We need to feed the hungry. We need to clothe the poor. We need to give counsel to those in bondage. We need to offer help for hurting marriages and broken homes. We need to visit the sick and help the widows. The list goes on and on. And I can get tired and overwhelmed just thinking of all the needs around us in the community that we should try to address. It can be disheartening from the start because there are SO many needs in the community around us. Where do we start?
The first place we start is in our hearts. We ask God to give us a call to our place of service, and the commitment to work there. If our hearts are not responding to a call from God, then we will give a flurry of service to some aspect of need, and then it will be over. If our drive is our own, and not provided by God’s Holy Spirit empowering our lives, it will soon run out and we will leave our service unfinished. Our hearts are the starting place. Only when we are responding in obedience to God’s call will we know where and how to serve others. We start with prayer, and time in His word, and a heart that is quietly listening to His voice. And He will give us direction. He will move us to the place He wants us to serve. He will give us a passion for that one area of service that He wants us to use us in the lives of those around us.
The second place we start is with our heads. Once God has led our hearts to a place of service, we use our heads to decide that we will serve. It is interesting to note that the verse above is addressed to slaves. Wouldn’t a slave already have to work hard? Wouldn’t a slave know that complete dedication was required of him? Yes, he would. But the point of the verse is the motivation for that work. The slave is not to do it for his earthly master, he is to do it as unto the Lord. And that outlook requires a change of mind-an act of the will. When we respond like the slave is told to, by doing all our work with all our hearts for the Lord, then we will have an impact on the community around us. This choice we make to live and work for the glory of Christ will become a part of everything we do.
In Chip Ingram’s book “Good to Great in God’s Eyes” he tells of an incident where he was watching one of his friends pick up the floor, wipe out the sink, and wipe off the toilet seat in a dirty public restroom. When he asked why this friend was doing all this work in a place he would never return to, the friend’s reply was “A disciple of Christ always leaves everything better than he found it. Someone is going to sit on that seat later. Someone is going to wash his hands in that sink. I don’t know them, but I don’t need to . I just need to serve them. If Jesus where here, he would want something better for them.” Just think what our community would be like if we adopted that mindset. What would Clemson be like if we all left everything better than we found it? It sounds like such a small thing, but if it were done collectively, it would make a noticeable difference. And I am not just talking about cleaning public restrooms…I am talking about having this attitude in everything you do. Employees with this attitude would be noticed. Volunteers with this attitude would be noticed. Shoppers with this attitude would be noticed. Servers with this attitude would be noticed. It starts with your heart (God leading you to a place of service), then moves to you head (you choosing to work hard as unto the Lord), and then it ends with a team.
God very rarely uses lone rangers. Jesus sent his disciples out in twos. Paul took co-workers with him on his mission trips. It just makes sense that for fellowship, accountability, and sharing of the load, it is a good thing to work alongside others. In another chapter of Chip Ingram’s book, he tells of the philosophy of his church to “dream a dream and form a team”. He encouraged his congregation to ask God to give them a dream for ministry. This could have been within the church or outside in the community. Then they were to find others that shared that passion with them and write out a plan of how they desired to minister to their area of calling. In a team setting, there is encouragement, excitement and a wealth of ideas. There is fellowship, strengthening of faith, and someone to lift you up when you are down (Ecclesiastes 4:10Ecclesiastes 4:10
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
10 If you fall, your friend can help you up. But if you fall without having a friend nearby, you are really in trouble.
WP-Bible plugin). A team with a vision, a passion, and a servant mindset can make an unbelievable impact on our community. Lives would be affected, hearts would be healed, and Jesus would be seen in us through everything we did. That is an impact that the world cannot ignore.
ask yourself this
- Have you asked God to lead your heart to a ministry He wants you to serve in through our church or community?
- Have you decided with your will to do all the work that God calls you to do with all your heart so that He is glorified in all you do?
- Will you step out in faith, dream and dream, and look for a team to help you serve?
prayer
Lord Jesus, it is with your power and leading that we want to serve those around us. We want to leave everything better than we found it. We want to show you to the world around us through the way we work and serve everyday. Empower us with your Holy Spirit. Give us your passion for those who are hurting. Lead us to each other as we look to minister together. And in all, be glorified by our lives surrendered to you alone. We love you, Amen.
0 Comments.