Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Core Practice #6: Serving Others

"It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." [Matt 20:26-28]

"In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." [Matt 5:16]

"And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles." [Matt 5:41]

"No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you." [John 15:15]

In many ways these Scriptures speak for themselves. But as we reflected as a community, a number of conclusions were drawn;
  • service can be described as 'an act of helpful activity; help; aid'
  • though not the means by which we are saved, according to James, to call yourself a believer/follower of Christ and not to serve others, is to have a faith that is dead. Paul puts it another way in Ephesians, we are saved for good works
  • the world asks the question, 'what's in it for me?' This is not to be our primary motivation as Christ-followers.
  • there are over 2,000 references to the poor in the Scriptures reflecting God's special heart for those living on the fringes, in need of help
  • the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:31-46 amply describes Jesus' expectation that we will feed the hungry, clothe the naked and visit those in prison.
  • service is good news, therefore a significant part of evangelism
  • the dynamic of our serving as a community does something to us also, it builds something among us, we are changed
  • we are not to wait until we feel ready or feel like serving, it is in the act of obedience to Jesus' command that our hearts ore touched with compassion and we are changed
We talked about and explored the different ways in which we have had opportunity in the past to serve others - whether as a larger community or as individuals. We wanted to commit as a community to make this a regular part of our rhythm of life, being open to needs as God brings them across our path.

What does being a disciple of Jesus and serving mean to you ... individually?

Where and how can we serve as a group, together?

How can we best maintain a balance of inward growth and outward service?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

A good topic since the approaching holidays create many opportunities to serve. I hope in our family we can incorporate more ideas from the Advent Conspiracy this year and use the Christmas holiday to teach the girls about giving and serving.

In the non-holiday time, however, I find many opportunities as an individual. I'm learning to be less miserly with my time. Tomorrow I'm babysitting one of Lydia's friends and her little sister while their mom is on a conference call. She also works from home!