Where I live, in the UK, volunteering is common. Many people choose to give of their time and energies in support of a wide variety of activities, everything from picking litter from the streets to offering their professional skills without any reward. It is encouraging in a world dominated by the self and self-interest that there remains a culture of generosity, a willingness to serve others, whether directly or indirectly, without hope of personal gain.
Benefits
That said, there are things to be gained by volunteering, if only the satisfaction of having done something that is beneficial for the community. For others, the benefits may be more direct, perhaps in giving someone who is lonely the scope to meet other people, maybe through serving in a charity shop or visiting the elderly. Sometimes people volunteer for activities that put their own lives on the line, such as crewing a lifeboat or being on call for the mountain rescue service.
The body
It is common for work related to church life to be referred to as volunteering, or voluntary. Is that how you see your own Christian service?
It might be, of course, that you aren’t yet involved in serving, in which case I encourage you to consider how you might do so. We are referred to as the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-27) – I can’t think of any part of the human body that isn’t functional; our bodies only work properly when, and if, every part is operating correctly. Surely, our being a part of the body of Christ requires no less of us. For many, there may be limitations to how we are able to serve. We might have a physical restriction, we may be new to faith and feel unqualified in some way, or we may just feel that we don’t have the time.
Priorities
There are sometimes reasons why time can be an issue, seasons of life where there are genuine and unavoidable constraints. But as a general rule, a lack of time highlights another issue beyond willingness. If we don’t have time to serve God, or the body (Church), then there is surely something wrong with our priorities (Matthew 6:33). I often quote that what we actually do is a direct reflection of what we truly believe. If we declare that God is first, but are too busy to serve him, then he cannot be first – maybe he just gets the dregs of our time and effort, and his position is actually last!
Volunteers
We have been thinking about volunteering, but now I want to bring that concept into question. I suggest that any work that we do in serving God or his Church falls into one of two categories. We are either helping to keep the ‘Holy Club’ going or we are serving in the spiritual sense (including where that service is of a very practical nature). Local fellowships can become more focused upon religious activity than spiritual reality, little more than holy clubs for religious people. In this context, volunteering may amount to just that, offering our services to help keep things going. Where our service is based upon faithfulness to God, and upon our spiritual gifting and calling (1 Peter 4:10), can we really claim that we are volunteers? Are we actually volunteering our time and service, or are we compelled to make that contribution?
Service
There is a word in the original Greek language of the New Testament – doulos – which is often translated as ‘servant’, but that has a deeper meaning (see Acts 16:17). Maybe servant is used because it is more acceptable than the alternative, more accurate translation. Doulos actually refers to a slave. A slave’s work is anything but voluntary. Even if we retain the idea of servant, rather than slave, the term incorporates responsibility and duty; a servant’s work isn’t optional. The only option a servant has is to resign. If, as Christians who serve, we think of ourselves as volunteers, then I suggest that we need to think again.
Love
Whether we want to see ourselves as slaves or as servants, we should realise that this status relates to God. It is he whom we serve, even where this might be outworked within the context of the local church or a separate Christian organisation. See Ephesians 6:7-8. Our service is to God and is nothing more than a right response to what he has done for us. We do not give God our service; we owe it (Luke 17:10). He deserves it. Not, of course, that we should ever see this as payment of a debt, but as a gift of love offered in response to the love that he has, and continues to, show towards us.
Gifting
I mentioned earlier that our service should be related to our spiritual gifting (1 Corinthians 12:4-7). There are many things that are required in the life of the local church to enable it to function; practical and common tasks that most people are capable of performing, as well as more specialist roles that need to be fulfilled. Whichever area we consider serving in, the important thing is that we seek God’s direction, rather than simply offering our services because we ‘could do that’. The latter reflects the mind of a volunteer, rather than the heart of a slave. A slave asks his master what he would have him do, and I suggest that we need to do the same. There might be a wide range of tasks or roles that you are capable of undertaking, but which is God telling you that he wants you to take up? God gifts us in a wide variety of ways. If we are to be good servants, then we need to seek his guidance and direction. This will ensure that our ministry to one another within his kingdom is in accordance with his gifting and his plan for us (Ephesians 2:10).
Heart
The bottom line is that whether we are volunteers, servants, or slaves demonstrates an attitude of heart – our heart towards God and towards one another. If our approach is to only give what we choose to, then surely our lives are not truly handed over to the lordship of Jesus; we will be volunteers on our own terms. The heart that is given over to Jesus doesn’t hold back, doesn’t set conditions, and doesn’t make decisions without seeking the guidance of the Spirit of God. Someone with such an outlook is surely no volunteer, and not even a servant, but has the heart of a slave towards God.
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