As his message, he started with scripture and gave three reasons. First, the scripture.
14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
-1st Corinthians 12:14-20
Second, the speaker said that we are all gifted. We all have ways that we can serve in the church. This is shown in the scripture. Third, all forms of service are equally important. Each person serving in their own way is important. As he used as an example, the people who clean the sanctuary are equally as important as him giving the sermon. If God calls us to do something, let's do it. Let's not waste time in committees deciding which are the most important. It is meets the requirements for ministry, then do it. Fourth, serving creates excitement. When people are filled and excited in church, they invite others. In closing, volunteer to further your spiritual journey.
While I think his points are correct, it really misses what I feel are the most important reasons to serve.
Before we get further, as you may know I have been recently evaluating the effectiveness of the United Methodist church, particularly in teaching the Gospel. In one post, we looked at some quotes from John Wesley, including one that said in all sermons, the preacher must preach the gospel and invite people to respond to Jesus. I believe that the speaker made an assumption that the people in the pews were Christians. While one would think that this might be a fair assumption for a church, it is far from true. While I am certainly in no position to judge the salvation of another person, I believe that it is fair to say that not all in the church are saved. If they are not Christians, then serving in the church is of no value. Paul tells us in Ephesians that salvation comes from grace, not works. So in terms of salvation, works are of no value. Christ tells us in chapter 7 of Matthew that many will call upon the name of the Lord in the end and say they performed acts in His name. He also says many of those he will cast away as he never knew them. James tells us in chapter 2 that faith without works is dead, and likewise, works without faith is dead. We know that works will not affect your salvation, but it certainly is meant for Christians. It is our response to God's grace and mercy for us. As we see in James, true faith will lead to good works.
So if not all in the church are Christians and good works are for Christians, we have a problem telling all people to do works. I believe that first, we must do what we can to help them know Christ. How do they come to know Christ if it is not preached? Yes we have bible studies and small groups, but not all who attend church participate in these. Christ must be preached in our pulpits, sunday school classroom, and throughout the whole world. Blessed are those who preach the goodness of Christ! That from the beginning of time, God has desired to have a relationship with us. However, he is perfect and we are not. This prevents us from being in relationship with God, both today and in the afterlife. However, in his love for us, God sent Christ Jesus who came to earth. He lived a perfect life to teach us how to live, and died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. Our belief in Christ's redeeming power is all that is required from God's grace to cleanse us of our sins by the blood of Christ. Once we are cleansed of our sins, we can enjoy fellowship with God both now and forever. This must be taught in our churches and by those of us who are Christians.
So first, before we can even talk about performing good works in God's name, we first must belong to God. This then brings us to the reason for doing it. The most important reason for doing it is because God tells us to. We saw in James how our faith leads to good works. James uses the example of a Christian seeing a person in need of food and clothing and instead of providing for the person, the Christian says to "Go and I wish you well." This clearly does not help the person. John in 1st John tells us that we love because God loves us first. We are to love each other as a response to God's love for us! By living in love for each other, we will know that God lives in us, and us in Him. Jesus tells us in the story of the goats and lambs that by serving others, we serve God. In the story, Jesus separates the goats from the sheep. The goats are cast into hell while the sheep are brought into heaven. In both, they ask Christ when they saw him hungry or thirsty, naked or in jail. Jesus responds that as you do unto the least of these, you do unto Him. By loving others, we show our love to God and share God's love to others.
Serve in the church! Not as a means of gaining salvation, but as a means of sharing God's love!
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