Life under the Waterline:
"Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.” Phil2:12-14
Here are some truths to help us approach service (work) with joy and effectiveness.
The foundation of service
The utter joy of service
The mindset of service
Discovering your unique contribution
The foundation of service - an act of worship
Service - It’s a universal term, yet what we call service and what the Bible calls service may not be the same. The Bible actually ties service to worship! This comes from one of the primary verses on worship - Romans 12:1 which says we’re to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to God, which is our “spiritual service of worship.” The Greek word for worship in this verse “latreía” refers to service, as opposed the other primary New Testament word - “proskynéō” - which means to bow down and kiss . (See John 4:23.) So using the simplest definition of worship - “our response to God.” - we see that our service should, at its heart, be first our response to God. Note the subtle change - our service is a response to God - who He is and what He’s done. It’s primarily not about helping people, pleasing people, getting compliments or making ourselves feel good. Biblical service is primarily an act toward God Himself. By maintaining a foundation of worship in our service, we live in surrender and find the wisdom and power to serve. Jesus reminds us, "to the extent that you did it (served) to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me" Matt 25:40
The utter joy of service
The motive for a Christian’s service is simply to bring God glory through what we do - not to gain His acceptance or approval. These things we already have through the gospel! Numerous New Testament scriptures make this clear. It’s not about working to gain His acceptance, approval or to even maintain our salvation. We may have grown up thinking we serve in order to gain acceptance, pay for our failures, or to some how make ourselves feel better. But that is not Christ-honoring service. All other religions and world views demand our service (works) as a means of acceptance or fulfillment. Yet the gospel says we serve no longer to be accepted or because God will judge us by our behavior. Receiving Christ (the gospel) takes us out of the courtroom. (See Tim Keller’s book,”The Freedom of Self Forgetfulness”)
“There is therefore now, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law….”
Jesus has set us free from the courtroom of judgment by taking the condemnation we deserve and he’s given us new life, a new purpose and the power to be His witnesses. This is what makes Christian service unique - because we’re complete in Him we not longer need to work to saving of ourselves.
Will there be any judgement for Christians? On the one hand, the gospel says “no" as far as who and who’s we are. Christ has secured our salvation and our freedom. But it also says “yes” as to our works - what we do with our lives. Jesus has set us free to be stewards of the time, talents and treasures we have on earth. Our works will be judged. It will also be the proof our our having accepted Christ. Jesus made it clear that a life surrendered to Him will and must bear the fruit for His glory! And how could it be anything less once we truly experience a relationship with Him and believe all that He has done for us?
Think about this. As believers, Christ redeems us from shame, fear of failure, fear of rejection and slavery to sin. He removes our guilt before God and gives us His Spirit to lead, empower and fill us. He freely gives us gifts and talents to use for His glory. He calls us now to serve for the building up and expansion of His kingdom! Our place in eternity is secure, so now we can spend our lives following Him. The gospel gives us eternal life. And this is why the apostle Paul constantly calls us to always "abound with thanksgiving."
The mindset of authentic service
Authentic service starts with the right mindset. (Romans 12:2)
A person with renewed mind serves:
- to invest in the God’s kingdom, not his own. This is the call for every Christian. It’s a matter of values and being disciples of Jesus. It is the greatest opportunity we can have and at the same time a challenge and involves sacrificing what the world offers.
- partners with God in their service. This affects how we serve. Do we seek God and include Him in our planning. Do we surrender to His leading and rejoice in Him. The joy of the Lord is our strength!
- pursues “agape” love in their service. Without love, our service is nothing. So said the apostle Paul in 1Corinthians13. This love is the mark of Christians in the world - it is what should distinguish us!
- serves in God’s power and strength. Christians are to be empower by God’s Spirit. When we sin, we short-circuit the Spirit’s influence. Stop your service and seek His forgiveness and cleansing when you sin. (1John1:9) Surrender to the Spirit to fill you and then move on in your service. Sometimes this is a matter of taking a short time before the Lord in reflection. Other times it is good to seek extended time to seek God and ask Him to reveal areas of sin and disobedience. Walk in the light as He is in the light! 1John1:7
- leaves the results to God. If we’re partnering with God, we can trust Him to bring about the harvest at the proper time. Especially when our service is more about sowing seeds than reaping a harvest we can become disillusioned about our impact or success. Because kingdom work is physical and spiritual (heart) work we don’t see clearly. In these times we must realize that it will all be clear in the day of Christ! 1Corinthians 3:7-9
Discovering your unique contribution
You have unique gifts, talents, desires and passions. Likewise, the body of Christ is filled with diverse and unique individuals.Yet, we are united and “one” in our connection to Him, the Head. We are not all called to do the same works of service in the world. We each have unique gifts, passions and callings from God to fulfill. And the body of Christ needs you to fulfill your calling. You also need others in the body to live out their callings. In this way we are built up in Him and His saving work continues around the world. Discovering our gifts, passions and calling is an ongoing process which is why we should keep these questions before us, especially in times of transition.
What are my primary gifts and talents?
We all have natural talents and spiritual gifts. Discern your strongest areas and have a plan to develop them to their potential!
What are my passions? -
What needs in the world do you ache over or become angry over (rightly so?) Ps 37:3 “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” reminds us that He places desires in us. We need to discern our godly desires from those of our sin nature. Are your serving passions aligned with God's heart and His word? What experiences have opened your eyes to need in the world or given you a vision to help change the world?
What is my mission?
Life is short. If I could accomplish anything with my remaining days it would be.
What’s my vision?
Once you have a clear mission in mind - what you want to do, you can work on what you envision or see happening in the future. Perhaps it’s a big picture thing way in the future. But then break it down to what a vision could be for 5 years from now, 3 years from now, etc. All of it being a fulfillment of the mission God has you on. Then work on a strategy appropriate for accomplishing your calling. Perhaps, the strategy will be very unclear - but at least commit to a key component of prayer. All things are possible with God!
This is hard “under the waterline" work. It takes time and often mentors and coaching along the way to discern. If you would like some coaching feel free to contact me or my wife. Also, look at our resources. These thoughts have just scratched the surface!
You can’t stop here though. Your faith also calls you to live above water for Jesus sake. :)
