Serve

Jesus calls us to humble ourselves before Him and to be devoted to serving Him and service others, because we love Him and love those whom He created. In Mark chapter 10, He says:
42 But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
43 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.
44 And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.
45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

The context of these comments is that two of the disciples, James and John had asked Jesus to put them in an exalted position in heaven.  This threatened to bring division among the members of this close-knit group.  Jesus pointed them to the concept of humility - we are called and empowered to serve.  We can humble ourselves before the Lord and recognize that He will direct and bless the efforts we undertake in His name. 

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In Matthew 10, Jesus emphasized the notion of self-sacrifice and taught that we are to serve others in His name. We can find these words in that chapter:
39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.
40 "He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.
41 He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.
42 And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward."

The message of the Kingdom of God moves forward as we proclaim God's love and truth through not only our proclamation, but our participation - living out the Christian life in practical ways, including serving others in the name of the Lord.

While this service aspect of Christianity is taught throughout the Scriptures, a new poll shows that while many Christians have the "want-to," they are not actually involved in the work of service. 

A new Lifeway Research survey shows that the desire is present; the survey summary relates:

Most Protestant churchgoers say their churches encourage them to serve people not affiliated with their church and that they want to do so. But few have volunteered in the past year. More than 4 in 5 churchgoers say their churches encourage every adult to serve people outside their church (84%) and they want to serve these people in hopes of sharing the gospel (86%).

The summary notes, "Two in 3 (66%) churchgoers say they have not volunteered for a charity (ministry, church or non-ministry) in the previous year. Three in 10 (30%) say they have, and 4% are not sure." So, just under a third of church attendees have been involved in volunteer work for a charity. That 30 percent level is just over the percentage of the general population in the U.S.; the Lifeway Resaearch site notes that, "According to the latest findings of the U.S. Census Bureau, 23% of Americans volunteered through an organization between September 2020 and September 2021."

Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, is quoted in the article as saying, “The easiest way to serve others is when a charity or group organizes the effort,” adding, “They recognize the need, come up with a plan and often gather needed resources. You just have to show up. Churchgoers say they want to, but less than a third showed up to help a charity in the previous year.”

A Lifeway study from last year showed that just over 4-in-10 people said they were "involved with regular responsibilities at their churches; just over 1-out-of-4 were involved in service in the overall community.

One further note: while younger church attendees indicated a desire to serve in the church and community, the older attendees - specifically, those over 65 - are the group who have the greatest percentage of people who are actually doing the work.

There is no doubt that Jesus calls us to be involved in serving others in His name.  He said in Mark 10 that He Himself didn't come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life. That attitude of servanthood is a driving principle of Biblical Christianity.  We don't serve out of a desire for attention or to try to earn brownie points with God; we serve because we love Him and the people He created.

As the leader of this research organization noted, churches can provide opportunity and motivation. We can effectively serve our communities because we ourselves are in community and we can provide the encouragement and even the opportunity to touch the lives of others.

We can recognize that God places a desire in our hearts to minister to other people.  It should be a motivation of the born-again Christian not to behave selfishly, but to humble ourselves before others. Through our service, we demonstrate a contagious love for others that can be influential for the cause of Christ.