This past week has been a real eye opener for me. I feel like a common theme that keeps popping up everywhere I go is serving, especially at church. I went to a my roommates church this past Sunday night and the speaker talked about the ways in which we serve and how most of us just serve in the areas in which we are “gifted.” If you are a good singer, you sing. If you are a good speaker, you speak. If you are good with kids, you work with kids. God has given us all these special gifts and most of us use those, and only those. If there is a need in some form at the church but it is not an area we are “gifted” in we will often turn our heads. He then use the analogy of a doctor in a hospital:

When a doctor walks into a hospital to perform a surgery. He walks in, past the kitchen where all the dirty dishes from every room sit on the counter waiting to be washed. He walks past the laundry room where sheets and dirty scrubs are piled up waiting to be washed. He walks past the nursery were crying babies are screaming for arms to hold them. He walks past the kitchen where food waits to be prepared for the patients in the hospital. He then walks into the surgical room, performs surgery, cleans up and heads home.

When this doctor gets home he greets his wife with a hug and kiss. Heads to the kitchen to clean the dirty dishes that have piled up throughout the day. He then heads to the laundry room and puts in a new load and folds a freshly dried batch of clothes. He then heads back to the kitchen and prepares dinner for his family. After dinner he takes his baby in his arms and rocks her to sleep. At the hospital he is doctor, and doctor only, but at home is dad, chef, dishwasher and laundry doer.

The church is our home. When there is a need those in the church family should not pick and choose what needs to be done based on their special gifts. If there are dishes to be done, do them. If there are babies to be held, offer your arms! If food needs to be made, make it.

This message really challenged me because I often find myself using the excuse that I am not good at something to just step back and let someone else do it. I hate going out of my comfort zone but sometimes it is what needs to be done and we are called to just do it!

Another point that this particular pastor brought up was the question of why we serve? Do we serve to please ourselves or do we serve to please our God. If not one person ever acknowledged the good things you do would you still do them? I think we often forget who we work for and who we live for. I don’t want to be a person who only serves to be noticed by man because that really doesn’t matter. God notices everything we do, when we hand a child a cup of water God sees that.

This week I had the perfect example of a person who serves with a genuine heart. I had a volunteer call and ask if it was okay if he came in one day to fix a few broken handles and a shelf one afternoon because he noticed these things were broken. He came in with his own tools, on his own time to make a classroom safer for a bunch of two year olds. I didn’t ask him to fix things, he just did it, because he saw a need and fixed it. I want a heart like this man, a heart that serves because God tells us to serve. Im not saying that we don’t all have special talents for a reason but that should not be an excuse to not do something. I don’t know if this LONG post makes any sense but hopefully it challenges you like it challenged me!