Reasonable Service
A pastor friend of mine and I were talking about Christian service. He said 'reasonable service' sure has changed, hasn't it?' He finds it more and more difficult to find people to fill the roles of deacon, teacher, etc. in his congregation. No one seems to have 'time.'
Christians of yore devoted all day Sunday to the Lord and much of the rest of the week as well as their tithes and offerings and works of 'charity.' Today we weigh up what we can afford to give Him. In those days, they knew that they could not afford to give Him less than all they could. Now, some Christians consider themselves good folk if they go to church on Easter and throw a little money in the pot at Christmas time.
What is 'reasonable service' anyway? I am asking Christians. There are no guidelines for many religions, especially the man-created god worship that goes on among many peoples. Romans 12:1 says "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Wow.. our bodies. I'm not sure exactly what that means, but I suspect it means more than an hour a month. God is calling. In His revolution for the sake of His great kingdom, He's calling for men and women who are willing to devote to His kingdom, not just their leftover evenings, not just the few hours they think they can spare but the whole of their lives, but more, enough to make a difference.
How much service to you give? Do you pray, have devotions, teach your children the bible, support a local church, volunteer services for the poor, attend worship services, support your pastor and other leaders, more? less?
As the beautiful hymn goes,
"Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a present far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all."
That would truly be reasonable service in light of what the Lord has done for me.
Christians of yore devoted all day Sunday to the Lord and much of the rest of the week as well as their tithes and offerings and works of 'charity.' Today we weigh up what we can afford to give Him. In those days, they knew that they could not afford to give Him less than all they could. Now, some Christians consider themselves good folk if they go to church on Easter and throw a little money in the pot at Christmas time.
What is 'reasonable service' anyway? I am asking Christians. There are no guidelines for many religions, especially the man-created god worship that goes on among many peoples. Romans 12:1 says "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Wow.. our bodies. I'm not sure exactly what that means, but I suspect it means more than an hour a month. God is calling. In His revolution for the sake of His great kingdom, He's calling for men and women who are willing to devote to His kingdom, not just their leftover evenings, not just the few hours they think they can spare but the whole of their lives, but more, enough to make a difference.
How much service to you give? Do you pray, have devotions, teach your children the bible, support a local church, volunteer services for the poor, attend worship services, support your pastor and other leaders, more? less?
As the beautiful hymn goes,
"Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a present far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all."
That would truly be reasonable service in light of what the Lord has done for me.
posted by Johnny at
9:02 AM
6 Comments:
Hi John,
As usual, I think God leaves service up to our own conscience. This can reflect how thankful a person is for the "ultimate service" Jesus performed on the cross. :) Lots of things hinder people serving. I know for me, I felt unqualified to serve. I was afraid of being responsible for teaching young children or running a program. I think the church can help by letting the members know that a desire to serve is as important, if not more important, than experience. There was a period of time when I was involved in just about everything in church. The more I did, the more confident I felt in my abilities and I believe that my faith grew much during that time of service. Now, I do not serve at church. My life has changed and I have much less free time. My heart is still there and I am always looking for opportunities that I can participate in but they are few and far between. I never noticed before but I have noticed in the past few years that alot of the "service" a church needs seems to be done by the women during the day. Women who are not available during the day have to be really creative in finding ways to serve the Lord at church. However, there is nothing hindering us from finding other opportunities to serve outside of the church building, it just takes a bit more creativity and prayer. :)
Just my .02,
Elaine \o/
By
Anonymous, at 7:09 AM
I agree that how and when a person serves is between the person and their God WITHIN the parameters of scripture. We who believe the bible is the Word of God have to take the scriptures into account when dealing with our personal consciences.
I also agree that the church needs to teach and lead people with little experience, how else do they ever get it... experience? :)
Thanks for your ever-welcome comments.
xoxoxo
By
Johnny, at 10:28 AM
I think maybe the reason so many people have left or are leaving Christianity is because of 'high maintenance.' Does God expect too much?
If you're pagan or a witch or something, you don't have to go to church services, don't have to tithe, don't have to serve in any way except serve yourself so who can blame them? There's no book to follow, no preacher to listen to, no rules and no regs. Do your own thing, that's the ticket.
Lighting a candle to nature doesn't do much for the world, although I guess it can make the candle lighter feel good.
Enuf, before I get into trouble.
By
Anonymous, at 3:59 PM
I love my church because we have a mission and we pretty much stick to it. It's a small church and most everyone serves. We stick to the basics, though. I have been in churches where other women seem intent on creating "projects" for the whole gang that really are (in my mind) time wasters. I don't want to spend three days creating 25 centerpieces for the "spring fling."
I do the book keeping - write the checks, balance the books, collect the money and do the banking for my church. Its hard and at times tedious. It's not something I am really gifted in, but the need arose and I was asked to try. I don't even think of that as service.
But honestly, I think we serve with our hearts in ways that are often hidden. Just having the attitude of being available to talk to and answer someone's question in the workplace or the neighborhood might be exactly the service that God wants from some of us on a given day. If we fill our time with projects and duties and plan, sometimes we make ourselves unavailable to people who really need us.
Love Dana
By
Anonymous, at 6:27 PM
::I don't want to spend three days creating 25 centerpieces for the "spring fling." ::
lol.. but what if the 'spring fling' brings in $1,000 that is used to feed the poor?::but the need arose and I was asked to try. I don't even think of that as service.::
It is a service; it's needed and someone has to do it. Not all 'service' is front page news.::If we fill our time with projects and duties and plan, sometimes we make ourselves unavailable to people who really need us. ::
Don't think me mean, but that sounds like rationalization. Yes, we need 'heart service' and lots of it, but we need the 'yes, I'll be there with bells on' type service too, and one does not rule out the other.
Thanks for posting and don't let me frighten you away. :)
Love,
J
By
Johnny, at 8:40 PM
<<< It is a service; it's needed and someone has to do it. >>>
Sorry. Bookkeeping is definitely a service. I had written a paragraph about hosting a Bible Study in our home and had written that it is a lot of fun and said that I didn't even consider it a "service." I deleted it, thinking since this is a post about service, why mention it if I don't think about it that way? I guess I didn't fully delete:)
As for my "rationalization" you are right. I was trying to be open hearted about those who aren't involved - thinking that while I am doing the checkbook, other people might be doing kingdom building work of far greater importance. But all the jobs have to get done:)
By
Anonymous, at 3:27 AM
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