Electing Values Elected: Service

In all of my time in ministry, my absolute favorite place to serve Jesus has been in Belize. There are many aspects I loved about my trip to Belize. First, I was able to experience it with my friends during my final year of seminary. We fell in love with the country together as we shared many special moments. Secondly, it was a place where people were excited to hear about Jesus. And finally, it seemed like a dream to be in this beautiful place in the world serving Jesus. I had a college seminary professor who once said we should all move to the beach, read Greek, and serve Jesus.

The first time I was in Belize I met a man and his wife who left their lives in America to move to Belize for retirement. It sounded like the perfect plan—after you have lived your life, go someplace beautiful to spend the rest of your days. Not to mention all the people you could share Jesus with in that new place.  It sounded like a plan I wanted to live out as well.

Now years later, I haven’t given up on that dream, but I’m more realistic. God has allowed me to be a city kid, one who has grown up in the suburbs of the cities in America. Along the way, He has shown me how small to medium-sized churches work. While I may have my own ideas of where I want to serve, in the quiet moments of life I take time to ask Jesus to lead me to my next place to serve according to His plan. Maybe one day He will fulfill my dream of serving in Belize, but if not, I know He knows best.  I have lived enough to know that sometimes my dreams are not the best for me, and end up in disaster.

My whole ministry, I have tried to help people develop a desire to serve, while looking for the opportunities to serve within the context of the situation. Blending these two focuses together can be quite challenging. Yet, in our current culture, service is one of the key ways people connect with the church. People have a passion for service, perhaps more than in years past. This will only continue to get stronger with our younger generations. So, how do we find areas to serve that fulfill us and yet serves our community? How do we invite new people into our acts of service so they can hear the words of Jesus too?

In our final week of this series, we lift up the value of service. We say it every week—Ordinary People…Extraordinary Servants…Now Go B1. The B1 model was built to help discipleship happen in our lives. (Next month we will talk about those elements again.) One area of discipleship that pairs up with our values is service—Love 1. Yet we wrestle with what kind of service to do, what our community needs, and connecting our passion with that service. This week in our reading, John talks about encouraging the people who are walking in truth, and then encouraging them to love one another. He wants them (and us) to serve and love others in real ways, ways they can see the love of Jesus. By fitting the service with our passions, we can speak love in our context and to our community.

Psalm 37:4 has always been a favorite verse for me on this topic.  It says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” God will give me the desires of my heart, but I have learned that sometimes He changes my heart to match His desires. Which one is it for you today?