This is actually something we talk about in my church pretty regularly.
My church is fairly large (not ginormous, but big enough) and a regular message there is about serving others in the world as well as within your church home.
Of course I am no perfect Christian and I haven’t yet bit the bullet and dived into serving at my church myself either.
But I did take the first step in requesting more info, and will be following up next week with one of my church leaders.
Why Is It Important To Serve Your Church?
My Pastor Nathan made a great point on why we need a heart for others, including those within the church.
Simply put, it validates our witness to those outside the church. Instead of outsiders viewing us as hypocrites who don’t practice what we preach, they see how much we LOVE each other and (hopefully) as a result want to become a part of it.
God loves you anyway if you are a Christian, 100% unconditionally. But he gave us the work of sharing his message of peace with those who are not Christian. Those who don’t know him.
In this crazy world, people NEED his message and people need peace and forgiveness. You can help them find that by leading them to God just by your own actions.
God says-
John 13: 34-35 Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other. (MSG)
What better place to begin doing that than inside your own church?
God built us to be companionable beings. Not move through life alone and unanchored to others. People need other people and God brings each and every person into your life for a reason, whether you are able to comprehend the reason right away or not.
Every person you meet is a lesson in some way and the people you meet in church are no different. Warmly welcome them, serve them, and pray for them. And as my Pastor said, season their lives with grace.
Hopefully they will come back and become besties with God themselves… and then proceed to pay it forward, spreading their own salt and light around the planet.
Word.
God’s Word that is.
