Showing posts with label serving others. Show all posts
Showing posts with label serving others. Show all posts
Friday, September 30, 2011
Influence
Recently author, speaker and good friend Sean Smith said, “..the church has largely lost the ear of a generation.” Ironically in the midst so much ‘Christian’ noise, our voice in relation to our impact is more of a whisper (and whimper) than a shout.
Though we have Christian radio, TV, music, movies, T-Shirts, merchandise, and so much more, we don’t have near the influence that would seem appropriate for a people that claim to be connected to a Cosmic King and Creator of the Universe. So the question is…Why? What has happened to our influence? Though there are many answers to this question, I believe two answers sum up the problem.
Answer #1: The church has stopped living a life of sacrifice.
Somewhere along the way we’ve bought into the ‘American Dream,’ and neglected God’s Kingdom dream. Rather than living as soldiers and citizens of an enduring heaven, we’ve become civilians of this terrestrial sphere building earthbound kingdoms that don’t matter. This mindset is reflected in how we spend our time, our money and what we (and our children) aspire to be. But Jesus never called us to make ‘Today’ the primary focus of our lives.
He taught us to live here on earth with an eye looking toward heaven. That’s why His disciples boldly embraced hardship, extreme resistance and painful persecution. They realized that every sacrifice they made in the name of Jesus would only increase their heavenly reward.
With this mentality they toppled kingdoms, transformed cities and turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). Jesus super-sized their influence because they were willing to lay it all on the line.
Answer #2: The church is largely a conquered people.
In His last hours leading up to the cross, Jesus said, “The ruler of this world comes, but he has nothing in Me” (John 14:30). Jesus was making a formal declaration of what His life already confirmed: Satan could scream, howl and spectacularly assail Jesus, but he couldn’t beat Jesus because he had zero influence on Jesus’ life.
Zero influence meant zero impact.
Unfortunately in the present day, most Jesus followers can’t come close to making a similar claim. Yes, it’s true that we can’t attain Jesus’ sinless perfection. But that isn’t our problem. Our problem rests in not accessing the victory that Jesus provided by allowing Satan to have authority over us. When we harbor secret sin, secret vices and unconfessed issues, we make room for the Devil’s influence over our life.
We can’t have power over darkness if we allow darkness to have power over us.
James the servant of Christ writes in chapter 4 of the book bearing his name:
“Submit to God, resist the Devil, and he (the Devil) will flee from you.”
Notice that it says, “submit to God” before it speaks of resisting or fleeing. Without submitting and obeying God, we can’t resist, and the Devil won’t flee. We can quote scripture, pray all night and sing worship songs the rest of the day. But if we aren’t submitted to God, we can have no authority over the Devil.
It would do us well to regain a spirit of sacrifice, a renewed hatred for sin, and a restored vision for eternity. With the right Kingdom values in the right place, the modern church’s influence will rise once again.
Not influence to dominate, but to serve. Not influence to condemn, but to love. Not influence to embarrass, but to embrace.
To those that are greatly influenced by God, will be granted by God the privilege to greatly influence their generation.
We only have one life and one chance in which to change the world.
Let’s seize it…by seizing Him.
Scripture Of The Day: "Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." - Matthew 5:16 (NIV)
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Because
As we were exiting the department store, I watched one of my toddlers struggle to hold the door open for a stranger. When I explained to him that I would help him, he boldly told me, "Daddy, I've got it..." To be totally honest with you, I was amazed and curious as to why my son would struggle to open a door that was heavier than he is for someone that he didn't know.
So I asked him. "Why did you open that door for her?" He replied, "because..." (He had that look that implied that my question was a dumb question...) When I further pressed him for a more detailed response, in his powerful childhood expressiveness, he responded, "Because that's what we do!" I replied, "We who?" Without hesitation he answered, "God people, Daddy!"
Wow! A toddler has learned, picked up, and processed that 'God people' serve.
The truth is that we adults know that, but we don't always live that out.
As I thought more about this idea of serving, there were a few critical questions that came to mind:
1) Why do we gather for worship and call it "service"?
2) Do you think people have confused being active in ministry and actually serving people?
3) Do people really know how to serve?
4) Are we able to serve without first being at the feet of Jesus?
5) Are we too busy to serve?
As I processed these questions and all of their potential answers, I immediately began to identify the starting points of how to move people from silent observers to engaged servants. Here are five starting points to serving:
1) Pray for discernment, discipline and passion to serve
2) Identify a social area of passion and frustration (i.e. - illiteracy)
3) Develop knowledge and expertise in that area by listening, learning, observing and training.
4) Set realistic goals for how you plan to serve and what you want to accomplish through serving.
5) Build intentional time in your monthly itinerary to serve in that area of passion.
As you move through the starting points to serving, be clear that moving into a serving mindset challenges and stretches you beyond areas of comfort. It is never convenient and a part of your normal thought process. As a matter of fact, I am convinced that there is a high degree of spiritual warfare that takes place to keep us from moving into a serving mindset. As much as the Word of God is used to allow us to hear God’s heart, and prayer is to get us into communion and communication with God, I believe that serving is what helps us develop the necessary character to look like Christ and bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit. So it is only reasonable that our enemy, satan himself, will pull out all stops to keep us into a habit and routine of movement and busyness without starting afresh with the idea of real servant hood.
I believe it is time to begin something revolutionary, and create a new normal. As the world has branded 'God people' into denominations, judgmental, arrogant, selfish, and spooky, let's re-brand ourselves to accurately reflect the character of Jesus Christ and the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Not only in moments of convenience or comfort, but consistently and courageously. We can all begin by serving people...because that’s what we do. 'God people', that is.
Scripture Of The Day: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." - Matthew 5: 16 (NKJV)
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Beautiful Feet
Whom do you serve the most—yourself or others? What does it mean to serve? According to the dictionary, it means: to be of use; worthy of reliance or trust; to wait on; and to answer the needs of. When is the last time you did this?
Answering needs is something you naturally do every day. You start with your own needs: you provide food for yourself to eat, a bed in which to sleep, water to use for bathing, clothes to wear and shoes to adorn your feet. As you serve yourself this way every day, look deeper at the significance of something as simple as putting on shoes: Before you put them on, where have you planned for your feet to go? The Bible says how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news (Romans 10:15). If your feet haven’t taken you to spread good news lately, plan some trips. They could be as short as a walk across the street to your neighbor’s steps, or as long as a 6.5 hour plane ride to Lima, Peru.
On my first mission’s trip to Peru in 2005, God stirred great compassion in my spirit for the poorest of the poor there. Their needs are simple but of great significance because without them they would literally die. Yes, I speak of the basic needs many of us take for granted, like adequate food, clean water, safe shelter, sufficient health care. Then there are needs like attention, care, nurturing and love, which should be natural but are not met for about 33% of the women and children in Peru, for they are abused by both strangers and loved ones alike. Of the 8 million people in Lima, about 49% live below the poverty level and about 30% live in one of the poorest areas, San Juan de Lurigancho, where the average person eats once a day. Many live in squatter communities around the city and along the mountainside with steep, dangerous, rocky pathways. Their homes are actually huts made from bamboo, cardboard, tin or whatever they can find, and most have no electricity or running water. They have some needs to be met.
Jesus teaches us to not only meet spiritual needs by fulfilling our ultimate calling, which is to go all over the world and preach the good news to all creation (Mark 16:15)—but He also teaches us to meet the natural needs of others as well: If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? (James 2:15-16).
While on earth Jesus didn’t focus on His own needs. Instead, He elevated the importance of meeting the needs of others, spiritually and naturally. Jesus demonstrated this when He humbled himself and washed the feet of His disciples, astonishing them with such humility and servitude. Have you ever astonished anyone with an act of service?
Why do I go to Peru time and time again—diving headfirst into the midst of the poverty, leaving the beloved American conveniences behind? Because I’ve answered the call to serve others. And if you too answer this call, you will experience deep satisfaction, knowing that you made a difference. A hug given to an orphan girl who has grown up physically, sexually and emotionally abused is priceless; it uplifts her spirit and gives her hope to live on, knowing that someone cares.
However I may be of service, whatever I can do when I’m in Peru, that I do – paint flowers on walls of an orphanage, help to plant gardens, clean bathrooms, carry supplies up a mountain to a family, take medically-challenged kids to play in a park, give away some of my own and my son’s clothing, take my feet to the people to spread the good news of the gospel….
It is through serving others that we serve the Master. Selah.
Scripture Of The Day: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.” - Romans 10:15 (NIV)
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Residual Value
Last night while driving home from a small group meeting, the term “residual value” came bobbing like a message in a bottle into my thoughts, and I immediately began to pray and ask the Lord to reveal the lesson to be learned here. Ever notice how He baits you in, and only after you’re good and curious does He unwrap a nugget of His wonderful truth? When God next spoke to my spirit that His children have a residual value which far exceeds their “sticker price,” immediately I got excited, and the fatigue of a long day was replaced by energy of the anticipated.
The phrase, commonly used in finance agreements, lease contracts and the like, basically means “the value of the part that is left after some of it has been used up or taken away.” How is it that in God’s kingdom less is more? Used is more valuable than new? We can’t do the math with a carnal mindset, because the world places such significance on the unused, the untouched! Folks will spend a fortune on uncirculated coins to hide away in an album; or they’ll sink thousands of dollars into a collector car whose engine will never purr, whose tires will never kiss the open road. Mint condition. New in box. I’m happy for ones who can find pleasure in having something that neither they nor anyone else can ever actually use, but it makes no sense to me. If you can’t really get your hands on it, test its limits, share it with others, where’s the fun of owning it?
Don’t you imagine God is a little the same way? He created each of us for purpose, and we’re born with gifts and talents to be used for His glory…or not. We can spend a lifetime lining up our credentials in neat frames on our walls, building our castles on foundations of sand, yet never realize our value in Christ. Our true worth does not lie in what He cannot use…but rather, what He can. As a matter of fact, those “collectible” features in our lives will be the dross burned away when our works pass through the
fire!
Follow the brother of that sealed coin—the one who doesn’t wind up in an album—on his journey. A postage stamp for a letter to a loved one. A phone call home from a faraway place. A cold beverage on a dry, hot day. His role seemingly carries little celebration, and some may even drop him on the ground and walk away without noticing or caring; yet, to others in whose hands he is grasped, he will make all the difference. The coin will experience that over and over again, until he’s so worn that the date is no longer legible; then he’ll be melted and recast for still another purpose. I just wonder, if you were to add up each time he was spent for his full value, how many millions of dollars of commerce this tiny coin might have been responsible for generating. Insignificant? Trivial? Hardly…
Apply that same scenario to the collector car. Sure, it may wind up in a climate-controlled garage, only occasionally unveiled to a few curious eyes, but it will never bring to its master the “action and adventure” kind of memories that it could have if it were only useable. It will never go on a family picnic, never drive a pregnant wife to the delivery room, and it will never become the revered legend who beat so-and-so’s hot rod on that lonely stretch of highway just outside of town.
Knowing that our lives are temporary, and that even the best-kept of us could be gone like a vapor, wouldn’t you rather be remembered for what you did than for what you didn’t do?
We struggle sometimes with the issue of “surrendering all” to Jesus, so afraid He might place us in a horrible circumstance where we’re perpetually unhappy and unfulfilled. We envision the worst when instead, He has His best pursuits in mind for us…those things we were born to do! The work of the Kingdom of God isn’t doled out just to folks who don’t have a life, or who can’t do anything else! True, God has a very diverse family situated among the different walks of life and with different levels of skill. However, He places us all as salt and light wherever we are, to impact everyone around us…which means no staying in the spice rack and no hiding under a bushel! The one thing that He cannot use is a life that won’t be torn from its protective packaging.
Scripture Of The Day: "As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace:" - 1 Peter 4:10 (ESV)
Monday, September 26, 2011
What’s Your Motivation?
Giving back to the community has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. When I was in grade school, I loved to help the teacher clean up before recess and after school. In middle school my height and agility were nice additions to the school basketball team. Cheerleading, chorus and student council at my high school were fun activities I enjoyed that also served others. I also joined my foster family in volunteering at my younger brother and sister’s school during their basketball games on Saturdays.
During my childhood years, I served for different reasons. Sometimes during elementary school I didn’t want to go home, so I had to find a legitimate reason to stay at school. In middle school, being popular and winning was important so I played basketball to achieve those goals. In high school my desire was to make my foster parents glad they welcomed me into their home and have the right extracurricular involvement on my college applications. When I reestablished my relationship with God after leaving college it was less than three months before I was on the hospitality ministry at church. I was overjoyed to learn despite everything I’d done God still wanted to use me.
I went on to serve as an intercessor and on several other ministries based on my gifts and talents when I joined a new church to be with my husband. I served because I believed I owed God something. I offered my gifts under compulsion. While serving, I encountered two leadership styles—some leaders offered wisdom, love and prayers to those who served under them. Some of the leaders used intimidation, shame and guilt.
After years of serving on a ministry led by someone using the second leadership style, I found myself serving in pain. I began to resent the ministry and wondered why I was going to church at all. My desire to be in a relationship with the Lord hadn’t changed but I began to question the reasons why I served. This led me to several years of intercession and study at a new level. Before we left that church I repented to God for using my gifts and giving him my time out of guilt and under compulsion. I knew I shouldn’t serve for any of the reasons I’d done it as a child or out of guilt, shame or as a result of someone abusing their spiritual authority.
My husband and I joined a new church. It was hard for me to open up to people again. The desire to serve was gone, I had to get it back but I didn’t know how. I prayed for God to help me want to serve again. This time I didn’t want to do it to be popular, out of obligation or as a distraction. During the time I took away from serving I fell in love with God all over again. I remembered I didn’t have to do anything to keep or deserve His love no matter what anyone said. It took over twenty years but I finally have the right reason to serve others. My motivation for serving now is founded in the love I receive and give to God.
Scripture Of The day: "And there are distinctive varieties of service and ministration, but it is the same Lord [Who is served]." - 1 Corinthians 12:5-6 (AMP)
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