What keeps me from serving God
I love to serve God, most times, and sometimes things get in the way. In response to “5 lies that keep us from serving”, I share my #1 reason.
This is in response to my church’s blog post: 5 lies that keep us from serving written by one of our pastors, Kendall. I suggest quickly reading that and then coming back here.
The post kicks off with, well, a kick in the pants, with a subtle link to this scripture:
‘But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.’ Mark 10:43–45
Riiiight!? This is Jesus talking, telling us, his followers, how we will be different than the leaders of this world. To lead in His kingdom, I need to serve because the Son of God came to serve!
“The message about serving centers around the fact that Christians are people who at the core of their identity are becoming more and more like Jesus.” — Kendall
We serve to grow more like Christ, we don’t serve because others deserve it, or it’s the nice thing to do. We have to serve (Jesus strongly suggests) because he served us! And continues to serve us.
My struggle with serving is related to point 3: I am just too busy.
“This is just not true. I get that life happens on overdrive through the week and the last thing we want to do is to have a hectic weekend. But when is busyness an appropriate excuse for disobedience? Before we cut serving and caring for others out of our calendar, we must take a hard look at our calendars to make absolutely sure that they are honoring to the Lord and reflect a good understanding of Biblical stewardship with one of our most precious commodities; our time.”
I’m busy.
I’m married, have 4 kids, 2 dogs, a career, friends, a house (that always needs work), side work, user groups, TV shows, hobbies, and more!
For a few years, that was all I could take. I’d go to church on Sundays, maybe an event here or there, but that was it. I used to serve a lot before having a gaggle of kids, then I became a pew warmer. Something I never wanted to become, but I got busy!
It’s amazing how easy it is to replace activities that glorify God with what I want to do. Too easy sometimes. One day, praise God, I pushed back on “my way”: I wanted more of God, I wanted a better, closer, more intimate relationship with my Savior. So I started pulling back a little from my list of stuff I do, and started praying and reading more. Serving didn’t come immediately, I was still really busy.
As I grew closer to God I knew I needed to serve. I knew what God was doing in me. He wanted to do things through me, to serve others, to benefit others, to show others his endless love. So my wife and I dove in! We took serving by the horns and started teaching Sunday School and leading a small group in the same year.
It’s been two or so years now, and I want to serve more! It’s been tiring, exhausting, and sometimes my busy-ness pushes against my serving, but I push back. I’ve grown closer to God exponentially faster because I am serving. Pouring myself out into others made me focus on being poured into by him. I can’t serve on my own energy, I need more of Him to continue serving. And you know what’s great?! He’s never failed me, not once.
