This last Sunday Pastor Dale encouraged us to use the gifts God has graciously given to meet a particular need at BCC. We might view this simply as a request for practical help, or thoughtful planning for our readiness to love family members with special needs, or even as a kindness to the current teachers and buddies who so often miss the preaching of God’s Word. All of these are worthy and good purposes for our greater involvement, but there is still an even better reason to serve.
When it comes to growing in the Christian faith, our tendency is to think individually. We have our personal devotions where we read the Bible and pray, and we can even come to church without joining in with the rest of the body as we passively listen, and then leave. Our culture gravitates to personal freedoms, privacy, and an appreciation for those who simply mind their own business. We have a problem. Though this may be our tendency, and even preference, it is not God’s will for us. We are not only saved as individuals; we are saved into a body with other members, and this salvation does not view our mutual love and unity as an add-on, a bonus, or icing on the cake. No, our actions as a corporate body are really a matter of our sanctification, and God’s glory. We are called to love one another. This is our glory as the body of Christ, even as Jesus prayer for us:
“[Father], as you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. [I ask] that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one.” – John 17:18-22
It is God’s desire to show His glory to the world. The mutual love and unity that exists between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is communicated to the world through the love and unity of Christ’s body, the church. This glory has been given to us! We exist for His glory, and so as God is three-in-one, so we are many who make up one body. We are saved into a body for the purpose of displaying what exists within the Godhead, and so this is the greatest reason for our service within the church. In light of this, shouldn’t we think of Pastor Dale’s appeal last Sunday as a matter of our sanctification, our spiritual growth, and the glory given to us for the sake of God’s glory? His appeal is a lot bigger than any old organization asking for help at the concession stand. This is really a significant part of our Christian growth. This is the glory given to us by God, for the sake of His glory!
So, don’t miss the spiritual significance of last Sunday’s message, or the purpose in my writing. It was not family business lacking spiritual nourishment, and I don’t write to simply gather more volunteers. Pastor Dale’s message was ultimately a call to our sanctification and God’s glory, and I write this to help us think differently about church and service. Why do we serve? If it’s for the display of God’s glory then there’s no room for guilt, arrogance, pride, jealousy, resentment, offense, or a grumbling heart. Service alone is not what glorifies God. What glorifies God is service that displays His love and unity, and He intends for this to be encouraged and practiced and visible within the body of Christ. After all, it is possible for us to give everything we have to the poor and sacrifice our very lives, and still not serve in a way that glorifies God. This is what we read in the love chapter (1 Cor 13). Our acts of service are important, but they are not beneficial or glorifying to God if they do not originate from the fountainhead of His love. We can serve for many good reasons, and some bad, but we ought to always think of our serving within the church as God’s will for His glory and our good.
So if we find ourselves so busy with life that we’re disconnected from Christ’s body, we ought to reconsider our priorities; not as a matter of guilt, but as a matter of our joy in glorifying God. Let’s resist a contemporary Christianity that settles for a life of individual, disconnected peace that only awaits Heaven. And if we find ourselves grumbling and unable to serve with joy, the answer is not to back away, but to repent, pray for God’s work on our hearts, and serve with a renewed expectation for joy. Don’t be discouraged if the joy isn’t there. Instead, thank Him for revealing, and sanctifying, and working His glory in you as you work toward love and unity in His body, the church.
