Gather: What if Everybody Served?
What if, when we gathered…
What If Everybody Served?
My first job in ministry, we call it a job but it was really more of a calling, was as a student minister at a wonderful church in Huntsville, AL. You probably know this, but Huntsville, AL and Houston, TX have something in common. A little thing called NASA.
I was blessed beyond measure to serve with the Mayfair Church for ten wonderful years. Alisha and I still love that church to this day. It amazed me because here I was, this 20 something youth minister who really didn’t know anything, sitting in a room with 10 guys who served as my deacons and… you know where many of them worked? NASA! They worked at a place called Red Stone Arsenal. Or for a company called Boeing.
These guys were some of the smartest, most talented people in the entire world. Yet, here they are sitting in a circle in a church classroom with me on a Wednesday night in a deacon’s meeting helping me plan a fall retreat.
You know what they told me? They said, “Corey… we’ll set up the chairs, we’ll take out the trash, we’ll drive the busses, we’ll take care of checking everybody in, loading the luggage, unloading the luggage, handing out the t-shirts, setting up the games, whatever you need. We’ll do all that so that you can do what only you can do. So you can build relationships with our kids and lead the retreat.”
Think about that. The humility of these guys. These guys are literally rocket scientists yet they are not only willing, they are volunteering, to do the grunt work on a fall retreat for a bunch of middle school kids so that I, a student minister who just graduated from college, can love and lead and build relationships with teenagers.
And for ten years, they did that every week. They did all the things that truly, anybody could do. They did all the things that truly, were way beneath their pay grade. They asked, What do you need? How can I help? And whatever it was, they just did it. With humility and love.
The word, “deacon,” literally means servant and that’s what they did. They served!
A Relentlessly Self-Centered Culture
Author Flemming Rutlidge once wrote, “We live in a relentlessly self-centered culture.”
And if we’re not careful, that same culture can become a part of our church culture. A self-centered culture is a consumeristic culture.
In the 1970’s, Burger King had a commercial that changed the game in fast food because they promised they would make your burger, “Your way, Right away!” They wanted you to “Have it your way!”
That slogan and that mentality quickly permeated our mindset and affected us in ways we never imagined. Like an invisible virus we became infected and now, no matter where we are, we want things our way, right away!
We choose the places we shop based on if they have it our way, right away.
The gym membership, the neighborhood HOA, the streaming service we subscribe to, all of it comes down to this… we want things our way, right away.
We’ll find a different school for our kids or a different team for them to play on if we can’t have what we want when we want it.
We’ll even find a different church if the church we’re at doesn’t have it, whatever “IT” is for us, our way, right away.
I know, some of you think I’m stepping on your toes right now. You didn’t know we were going to talk about this today. 
Hey, it’s ok. Take a deep breath. You’re good. We’re good.
What we need to call out today in all our lives is the “relentlessly self-centered culture” and how it affects us. What we want to return to today is the way of Jesus, which is a different way of seeing the world and how we see ourselves in this world.
The Counter Intuitive Truth
The truth is, you were never created to have it your way, right away. And even though it sounds counter intuitive, having IT your way, right away does not lead to the Good Life. Certainly not the Good Life God has for us and Jesus promised us.
The way to experience abundant life is found when you turn the ways of this world upside down. What’s interesting is that this is true whether you’re a follower of Jesus or not. If you put into practice this principle that permeates scripture, it will bless your life.
But here’s what’s really exciting, if we, as followers of Jesus, let this principle permeate OUR lives, it will set the church on FIRE.
This principle I’m about to share can be found all throughout scripture, but this morning I want us to lean into the words of the Apostle Paul found in Romans 12.
Romans is a letter written by Paul to the church in Rome, a church he hasn’t been to at this point in the story. And he’s writing to the church all about what it means to be the church. When we get to chapter 12, Paul leans into a principle that permeated the life, ministry, and teaching of Jesus. Listen to what he writes, starting in verse 3…
Romans 12.3-11
3 Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.
In other words, we’re supposed to be different than the world around us. If you’re a follower of Jesus, you have to resist that urge within you to think you’re better than somebody else.
Paul says, you gotta be honest about yourself, and measure yourself according to the faith God has given us. The measurement we use is our faith. God gives faith, it’s not something we acquire on our own.
And God grows faith. Now we can participate in growing our faith. We do that when we walk by faith. When we live lives of obedience and we trust His word and follow his lead. And your faith may be great. But if it is, it leads you straight into humility.
Think about it… you probably know someone who, when you think about them, you think… “They are a person of great faith.” And if that’s true, you probably also think this about them, “They’ll do anything for anybody.” Why? Because that faith has lead them straight into humility.
Did anybody ever have more faith than Jesus? Jesus was God! He had unparalleled faith in the Father. Yet He humbled Himself, even to the point of dying naked and alone on a criminal’s cross for you and for me.
Faith leads us to humility. Humility leads us to put the needs of others ahead of our own.
A Part to Play
And then Paul says this to the church in Rome…
4 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
To be a part of the body of Christ is to be a part of a body of believers.
As a member of God’s church, Everyone has a part to play and needs to play a part.
You can’t say “I love Jesus but I don’t like the church!” To be in Christ is to be in church. Not just “in” as in, “in the building.” But “in” as in, “a part of, connected to, thriving, serving, flourishing, fulfilling a purpose and playing a part in God’s church.”
As one commentator, James D. G. Dunn, once wrote… “Membership in the body is membership in Christ.”
If you are a member of God’s church, you are an important part of Christ’s body. As a member of the body you have a part to play.
You matter, your presence matters, your participation matters. You are an important part of the body of Christ.
Church Hurt
Now, we need to pause and just acknowledge…
I know there is a lot of church hurt out there. I don’t want to minimize that or be dismissive of that. Maybe you’ve been hurt, harmed, in some way. If someone in the body of Christ or a particular body of Christ has caused you hurt, hear me say, “I’m sorry.”
Unfortunately, it happens.
It may be ok, even needed, to step away from that person or even that particular body or part of the body for a time. But let me encourage you today to find a body of believers you can be a part of. Don’t let the enemy win. Don’t separate yourself or cut yourself off from the body of Christ. To belong to Christ is to belong to the body of Christ.
To be a part of the body of Christ is to be a part of a body of believers.
As a member of God’s church, Everyone has a part to play and needs to play a part.
Gifts from God
Paul says,
6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 7 If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. 8 If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once encouraged his congregation to… “Live hopeful lives of creative action.”
In other words, whatever God has gifted you to do, leverage that gift for the benefit of God’s church! Everyone has a part to play and needs to play a part.
In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.
Whatever gift or talent or ability you have, whatever it is, it is from God and it is evidence of the grace of God! To be a part of the body of Christ is to be a participant. To be a part you have to participate.
One question you can always be asking: How can I best serve God’s church?
More Than Attending
Biblical church membership is about more than attending. Attending is important! You can’t be a part if you’re not here! You have to be here and be an active, contributing, participating, part of the family.
At the same time, just hear me say, there are different seasons of life. And in different seasons of life there will be different levels of engagement. Absolutely. But in every season there is always a way to be a part! To leverage your time, your talent, for the benefit of God’s church.
ALL OF YOU are gifted by God to do certain things well. And the church needs you!
ALL OF US can ask: “What do you need? How can I help?”
And here’s the thing, you can serve in your area of gifting. We need that. We need singers to sing and teachers to teach. But there are some jobs anybody can do. Here’s what’s exciting to think about, what if we were a part of a church where everybody served?
How do we become a church like that? Paul says this in the next verse…
9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. 11 Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.
We become that kind of church when we really love each other. When we refuse to be lazy but rather, work enthusiastically to serve the Lord.
What if YOU Served?
It’s easy to ask the question, What if everybody served? So let’s make it a little more personal… What if you served?
I don’t know what life is like at your house, but at our house this is a topic of constant conversation. There are some jobs that only me and Alisha can do. Some things, only mom and dad can do. It’s our job to pay the bills, make sure there’s a roof over our head, food to eat, and clothes to wear. But many of the jobs at our house, anybody can do.
Contrary to popular belief in our house, anybody can take out the trash, or load the dishwasher!
Anybody can vacuum and clean up. Now we’ve tried to teach this to our kids. We’ve tried to make them aware that they don’t have to be asked to help out. They can always ask, What do you need? How can I help? But they can also always notice what needs to be done and do it!
Just imagine a home where everyone in the home contributed, when they saw something that needed to be done, they just did it. They picked up, cleaned up, helped out. Nobody had to be told, no one was waiting on instructions. Stuff just got done.
I know, some of you are wondering what drugs I’m on. It’s almost impossible to imagine a home like that, especially if you have teenagers! Ha!
But what if…!?!?
What if that same mentality permeated the church?
Some of you are serving and that is awesome. But let’s just be honest. Not everybody is serving. Some people are just showing up. And we’re glad you’re here. But what if you found a way to serve?
Everyone has a part to play and needs to play a part.
They say that in the average church, about 1/3 of people serve and give.
Other people say that in the average church, the 80/20 principle is alive and well. That 20% of the people do 80% of the work.
But what if everybody served? What would happen then?
That idea, that question, What if everybody served? That’s exciting to me. Here’s why…
If you want to grow your faith, if you want to experience LIFE CHANGE, that happens when you SERVE.
If you feel like you’ve been stagnant in your faith, then ask yourself when was the last time you served in a meaningful way. If you’re only attending and your not serving, then you’re probably not growing.
I’m not saying any of that to put a guilt trip on you. Actually, it’s the opposite. No guilt trip intended! I just want to raise your awareness to this reality: Your spiritual growth is directly connected to this principle:
Your faith grows and God’s church grows when you shift your focus from self to service.
How can you help? What gifts, talents, or abilities do you have that God has given you in His grace that you could leverage for the benefit of His church? What if everybody did that? What if everybody served?
What do you need? How can I help?
We live in a world that says, We want it our way, right away.
Can we just call a spade a spade? That is not the way to the Good life God has for us, the abundant life Jesus has for us. Contrary to popular belief, that way of thinking and living leaves you dissatisfied, angry, entitled, and perpetually upset.
The way of Jesus is the way of humility. It’s found in self sacrifice. Truly, we may never be more like Jesus than when we shift our focus from self to service.
Maybe today you need a place to serve. If you want to find a way to serve just ask somebody…
“What do you need? How can I help?”
Everyone has a part to play and needs to play a part.
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