Service - An Outward Discipline
by Gary Johnson
What are you doing next Monday afternoon? Like many, you may be looking up into the sky to see the next solar eclipse. Being in the path of totality, Indianapolis is expecting tens of thousands of visitors to view the eclipse, and like most people, I have purchased the protective eyewear so that I can safely look up to the sun.
Still, throughout 2024, we are looking up to the Son, whose name is Jesus. With 2024 being a presidential election year, it’s all eyes on Jesus. To help us do so, we are stressing the importance of knowing and practicing the twelve spiritual disciplines (one each month). The disciplines move us into deeper relationship with Jesus. This month, we focus on the discipline of service.
Service is considered an “outward discipline” because it is done with and for others. We practice this spiritual discipline when we serve the Lord by serving others. Peter said it well, “Each one of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10).
Every one of us has received a gift (one or more) from the Lord, and last I knew, a gift is meant to be given! Throughout the year, Leah buys birthday and Christmas gifts for the grandkids. They seem to pile up in the corner of our bedroom, but when I last looked, that corner is now empty. Why? A gift is meant to be given away. Spiritual gift-giving is serving the Lord and others.
Example
There is no better example to follow than that of Jesus, who said, “For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). And, in 1 John 2:6, we are told that “whoever lives in Him must live as Jesus did.” Hence, as followers of Jesus, we must follow His example and that is to serve Him and others, as opposed to our being served by others.
Explain
Since we have all received a gift, and we are to serve the Lord and others with this gift, what is it / what are they? There are three primary passages of Scripture in the New Testament that list specific gifts: Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, and Ephesians 4:11. Though there are over a dozen gifts listed in these passages, these are not a comprehensive listing of all gifts. There are other gifts easily recognizable in the Bible, such as King David’s musical gift used in the worship of God, and the very first mention of a spiritual gift is Exodus 31:1-11 when God gave artistic gifting to Bezalel and Oholiab by which to build God’s Tabernacle, as well as the ability to train others to help in this task. There are numerous spiritual gifts, and they are given to us by none other than God Himself!
Explore
Do you know what your spiritual gift(s) is/are? It’s a simple process to discover what spiritual gift(s) we have. A plethora of on-line spiritual gift assessments are available. Many are free and you receive the results within minutes. For example, www.spiritualgiftstest.com is an accurate tool to discover (or affirm) your spiritual gifting. I’ve used it a number of times and find it to be spot-on in identifying the gifts the Lord has given to me.
If you prefer a more self-directed approach, consider asking yourself the following four questions regarding your current service in Jesus’s Name.
Do I enjoy preparing for how I am serving?
Do I enjoy doing what I do for the Lord in the moment?
Do I look forward to the next time I get to serve in this way?
Do I receive unprompted, positive feedback from people for my service?
How I answer these questions helps me determine if I am serving in the right way. For the Church to be at her best, we need people to use the right gift in the right way in the right place at the right time for the right reason. We need everyone to be in the right seat on the Jesus bus!
Excel
When we are filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:18), He empowers us to serve the Lord and others with excellence. Rather than settle for mediocrity, practice the spiritual discipline of service with the Spirit’s power. The early believers received power when the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they were then able to be the Lord’s witnesses beginning in Jerusalem and then throughout the entire world (Acts 1:8). Only in His strength will we be able to “offer our bodies as living sacrifices…no longer being conformed to the pattern of this world but being transformed by the renewing of our minds” (Rom 12:1-2).
Too often, we wallow in apathy, wanting others to serve. We buy into consumer-driven Christianity, asking and thinking what the church is going to do for me and not what am I going to do for the church. The Spirit of Jesus lives in us, and He empowers us to serve the Lord and others with excellence for the glory of God alone.
Come this next Monday, don’t just look up to the sun on its path of totality from Texas to Maine. Rather, on Monday and every day, let’s totally pour ourselves out in service to the Lord and others as we look up to the SON of God, Jesus.
