Last week, we looked at Elisha and the heart of worship and serving God. Somehow throughout the week, God seems to be speaking to me about the heart of worship and service. I had shared how sometimes ministry could be a very "weary affair" for me but wait a minute, it should not be the case. It points me to re-examine myself on my heart of worship and of service to the Lord.
"What is our posture towards serving the Lord?"
"Are we seeing the big picture of it all?"
"Are we seeing the big picture of it all?"
These are all good questions to ask ourselves at various junction in our ministry life. Remember the times when some of us were fired up for our ministries, do we still have the passion?
The Heart of Service
Last week, the story about Jesus feeding the five thousand kept coming up. As I also listened to the lyrics of the song, Five Loaves and Two Fishes, by Corrine May, it becomes clear to me that without the boy and his bread and fishes, how would the Lord feed the five thousands? It took faith and trust in the Lord and the Lord multiplies to bless many others. What "little" or "much" do we have that we can commit to the Lord to bless others? This spoke to me about the heart of service.
Keeping the Big Picture
Then, we also spoke about keeping the big picture. Why do we serve? Yes, the reasons for serving could be a multitude including:
"I am serving in gratitude to what God has done in my life"
"I am serving to learn to rely and trust in the Lord"
"I am serving to offer what giftings I have in the Lord's work"
"I am serving to learn to rely and trust in the Lord"
"I am serving to offer what giftings I have in the Lord's work"
Other reasons could also include:
"I am serving because I was asked to join the ministry"
"I am serving because my friend asked me to"
"I am serving to appear holy"
"I am serving because my friend asked me to"
"I am serving to appear holy"
Well, being in the line of volunteer management, I too come to realise that volunteers come for a variety of reasons e.g. to find a life partner, to learn a skill, to get perks of being a volunteer, to spend time more meaningfully, to gain exposure to working in the social service sector etc but then one thing is true, and that is, as a volunteer coordinator, I always try to coordinate the efforts of the volunteers to move in the same direction so we can serve the beneficiaries. That should, ideally, be the main idea and big picture of serving as a volunteer. In a similar way, all may be serving in ministry for varying reasons or the reason might have changed over time, but it should ultimately be to do our Father's will i.e. to reconcile people back to Him. Is it doing business with the Father (you give me this, I do this) or doing the Father's business (Lord, this is what I have to offer, have it Your way)?
Two takeaway for me from the recent Connect Conference organised by Navigators and Campus Crusade (yes, I do "da bao" for you all :D) are:
- As Christ-followers, we all do have different mission (e.g. calling to the market place, calling to full-time ministry etc) and different priorities (e.g. placing focus on evangelism, worship, discipleship, prayer but one thing is for sure, we all have the same purpose (doing the Father's Will)
- But are we too burnt out? We were asked at the conference: "When you see God face-to-face, is He going to ask you 'What have you done for me?' or 'How have you grown as a result of what you have done for me?'" What do you think is God's focus here? In sum, Ps Edmund Chan asked:
- Do we live the religious life or the redeemed life?
(Philippians 3:8-9, "...that I may gain Christ and be found in him") - Do we live the intense life or the intimate life?
(Philippians 3:10, "...I want to know Christ") - Do we live the empty life or the exchanged life?
(Philippians 3:11, "...to attain to the resurrection from the dead")
Romans 12:1 says "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship." Frankly, when I first came back, I did not understand what sacrifice meant and the first image that came to my mind is those human sacrifices used in tribal ceremonies in those Indiana Jones movies. But far from it, I have later come to realise it meant literally "dying" to the old self, letting God redeem you and run your life; living sacrifices.
Arun has nicely put it that we are like married to Christ and to go back to our old sinful selves is like committing adultery. Cheryl has also brought up Romans 6:15-23: Will you be a slave to sin (which leads to death) or slaves to righteousness? The chapter ends "For the wages of sin is death, but then gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 12:4-8 further specifies about offering your bodies as living sacrifices: "... 4. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,5. so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.6. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.7. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach;8. if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully."
Wow, OK, think it's time to stop. Looking at what was typed, I just thank God for the flow of thought and how all these just came together nicely in just twenty minutes.
