FYI - If you are looking for the video and the list of one another statements for this week's small group lesson, please scroll down to the previous blog entry titled "Nobody's Got Your Back."
I know that last week's post was very vague in regard t what the spiritual disciplines are, but I hope it was very stimulating. Hopefully it drives you to consider and research the spiritual disciplines and to structure your life with these as a priority. I also hope that as you practice such disciplines you see how important they are to your Christ-likeness. This week I want to look at transformed service: ministering as Jesus ministered.
Often in American Christianity we become self-absorbed enough to think that we are consumers. We think that our church should do what we want her to do, play the music we want to hear, preach what we want to hear, and spend money the way we think she should. In such a view of the Church, we completely mistake the purpose of the Church in the first place. The Church is NOT to cater to our desires. The Church is to carry out the will of God, the Creator of the Universe. If you don't understand what I am saying, read and re-read Ephesians 1-3 until you see who the Church is.
The biggest problem with a consumer mindset is that we miss out on our role in the Church: ministry. We put ministry in the hands of the paid staff or the elders, but because I walk into a church as a "member," I think I am not responsible for the actual ministry in the Church. How far from Jesus' teachings is this thought process? Now, I know some of you reading this are serving in ministry, honoring the gospel message and glorifying God. However, this mindset is so prevalent in our culture. We "shop" for churches to see which one fits us. When they do something we don't agree with we complain about it. Then, when they tell us they aren't going to change it for us, we go to another church and start the cycle over again. How is God honored in this?
What is service anyway? When do we know we are serving? Is it a matter of works or of the heart? Jesus' ministry could be summed up like this: training disciples to make more disciples. Obviously there is a lot more to that than stated, but that is really the basic nuts and bolts of his ministry. He spent his ministry developing men whom he would use to found and expand the church. They spent time with him and watched as he healed, cast out demons, taught, preached, and shared love with sinners. He ministered to his followers, but he gained more followers by ministering to the sinners. Why do we get so focused on those already in the church and forget about those who need Jesus? Maybe it shouldn't be an either/or, but a both/and.
So if we want to become like Jesus, we must learn that the first here will be the last in His kingdom, but the last here will be the first there. What does this mean? It means realizing that you are no better than the homeless man asking for spare change on the corner. It means having compassion on the alcoholic who has hit rock-bottom. It means sharing a cup of cold water with a thirsty construction worker. It means developing a relationship with the kid who makes your coffee each day. It means revering human life so much that you not only strongly discourage abortion but even offer to adopt the unwanted children. It means that if we want to minister to someone, we must understand that we are less valuable than they are; we must place their well-being before our luxury.
Jesus counted himself as the lowest of all humans, taking the penalty for all of our sins. What would he have you do for someone else today? Jesus washed the feet of those who looked up to him. Who is looking up to you and how can you wash their feet today? Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up. Don't get in the way of what God is calling you to do today. Minister as He ministered; be transformed in service!
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