So You Want to Serve the Church

It is always a joy to see Christians who demonstrate eagerness to serve the Church in some way. Sometimes this eagerness is especially noticeable in new Christians who are excited about their new faith and they want to get out there and share the gospel with everyone they know as fast as they can. They are excited to determine what and how to use the gift(s) that God has given them for the edification of His body. Of course, it is not just new Christians who are eager to serve and put their gifts and abilities to work for Christ's Kingdom. As much as I appreciate such eagerness, I wonder if they really are as willing and/or eager as they appear to be. Usually when the question is asked: "What do you think you would like to do to serve the Church?" a wide variety of answers are usually given:

• start or help run a VBS program
• start a ministry or Christian school for children
• help single moms
• music ministry
• prison ministry
• start and establish a crisis pregnancy center
• organize right to life protests
• go to seminary
• get involved with missions
• become a pastor or seminary professor
• write a blog (!) 
• write a book
• do a podcast about theology

Certainly these are noble causes and the above list does not come close to exhausting the possible ways one can serve and meet the needs of Christ's Church. Such things have their place and there are definitely people who demonstrate gifts and abilities for such endeavors. However, I'm going to ask a simple question to help you determine how serious and willing you really are. It's a question that has it's roots in a sermon I heard at an OPC General Assembly. So here's the question:

Do you know where the plunger is in your Church's facility?

Now let's be honest..... we all know what I'm really asking here. Are you willing to serve the Church by doing the "less glamorous" tasks that come upon us from time to time? When you see that the toilet in your church needs some "help," do you just quietly sneak off and feign ignorance as you walk down the hall whistling the closing hymn from the service or do you do what needs to be done despite how...... nasty the job is even if there is no one there to thank you or publish it in your Church's end-of-year service report? Don't misunderstand me though. I am not asserting that you must be eager to plunge toilets, but your eagerness to serve the Church should manifest itself in an unhesitating willingness to serve even in such a menial task for the benefit of your brothers and sisters in Christ.

The truth is most menial and less glamorous  jobs in the Church are rather indispensable. In fact most of the so-called glamorous and public tasks that engender a "wow" response in the Church have peripheral elements to them that are quite menial. For example, as much as it sounds great to direct some sort of non-profit Christian (m)inistry, you will still have to deal with personnel issues which are legion; you will have to deal with all kinds of paperwork in order to maintain your non-profit status; you will have to deal with people who think they know how you should be doing your job.

At the end of the day, if you are not willing to roll up your sleeves and serve in the menial, mundane, and even filthy, then you may want to reexamine both your goal(s) and the motive(s) behind your goal of serving the Church. Many of us can recall the story of Jesus washing His disciples' feet in John 13; some are so intrigued by this story that it has an almost sacramental status in some circles today as it is an act recreated in youth groups, Christian camps, and even weddings. The latter one I sometimes find to be sadly ironic. Couples who want to express their willingness to serve one another through the picture of washing each others' perfectly bathed and manicured feet. It's easy to wash a clean foot. The disciples' feet, however, were far from clean and manicured as they had walked through the streets of Jerusalem in the days long before "clean up after your animal" laws were on the books. Christ washed those kind of feet - filthy feet; Christ did what was considered to be among the most menial and mundane tasks as He washed their feet with his own hands. Sometimes service in the Church is like that kind of foot washing.... sometimes it's actually worse and you will wish all you had to do is that kind of foot washing. Are you up for such menial and mundane tasks or is something like that beneath your gifts and abilities? After all, you have advanced degrees, you majored in foreignurbanstudentleadershipchurchgrowth ministry in college with a minor in worship leading, and so on. Please, for the sake of gospel message, do not let the above be your attitude.

The Church needs all of us to serve her. All of us who make up the body are joined together in Christ. All of us have a place and a function in that body. Be willing to volunteer for the less than glamorous tasks that need to be done - there is a hidden joy in doing so; be willing to grab a soapy cloth to wash off the crayon from the wall that the two-year old artist drew; be willing to fix a coffee for an elderly member who has trouble getting around; be willing to help fix plates alongside a mom of little ones in the food line, be willing to pick up spilled food from a plate of a little one in the food line; in other words, be willing to do the menial and mundane behind-the-scenes tasks because you love Christ and love His Church. Remember that even the gifts you have are just that - gifts. They are gifts given to you by God for the purpose of serving and edifying Christ's Church. A sober reminder of this truth will give you a willingness to serve in whatever need that arises. Meditate on passages like 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4:11-16. Then, go find out where the plunger is in your church building (and the vacuum, too), and be ready to use it when needed.