The Gift of Serving

The GIFT OF SERVING is the divine enablement to attach spiritual value to accomplishment of physical tasks within the body of Christ (quoted from Chip Ingram's "Your Divine Design".)

That may be easily said, but it is not easily done. Yet without gifted servers doing the more physical tasks, very little spiritual ministry would be done. Thus, supernatural intervention is required to "gift" the body of Christ with servers who are divinely enabled to see the spiritual value of their work, no matter how tedious or repetitive. Believe me, those who ARE gifted in this area, know who they are, even this far into the posting!

They are the ones who have "gotten" that they are serving the Lord in every little thing that they do. They are not spiritually dysfunctional, by the way. They can be even more "spiritual" than others of us, but they are behind the scenes folks, not up on center stage folks. They are not the Peters of the world; they are the Stephens – the first martyr of the new church. Most of us remember that Stephen was one of the first deacons and was also the first martyr. But what do we remember about his spirituality?

If you read Acts chapter 6, you will see that Stephen was chosen to be a deacon because he was "full of faith and of the Holy Ghost". A little further down in that same chapter, you will find some Jews of the synagogue disputed with Stephen "and they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake." So they falsely accused him and had him stoned to death. None of those descriptions of Stephen make me think of someone inferior to any of the saints in any way. In fact, being gifted as a server in the body of Christ probably requires more spirituality BECAUSE these are the folks least seen or noticed in the body. They are the oil in the engine of the car. The car is visible, the oil is not. You don't even realize how important the oil is until the car stops running for lack of it! Just as the car will not "go" without oil, so also the church will not "grow" without gifted servers.

This is not only where the deacons come in, but many others who don't have that title. Remember Phoebe, the deaconess, who began this study? Perhaps the errand that carried her to Rome was given to her to save the leaders of the church at Cenchrea all the travel time that it took to run that particular errand, time which could instead be focused on getting people saved. But in that same church or others like it, might have been someone who fed people (Simon Peter's mother and Martha), or sewed clothing for those in need (Dorcas), or invited folks into their homes to hear the Word of God (Cornelius), or provided lodging for the saints (Lydia), or took care of others when they were physically unable to take care of themselves, like the Greek widows of Acts chapter 6 who were assigned to the care of Stephen, Phillip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas (all deacons) allowing the twelve disciples to continue in "prayer and to the ministry of the word."

People with this gift demonstrate love FOR GOD and FOR THE BRETHREN by meeting practical needs that sometimes involve performing menial tasks; work that often frees up other Christians in the church to do the ministry of the giftings they were given. People with the gift of serving prefer physical tasks to speaking tasks. This doesn't stop them from preaching the gospel, but in many ways, their preaching of the gospel is done less by speaking and more by action. They might not be gifted communicators in the same way as a prophet or exhorter or teacher are, but they have a quiet passion for the work of the Lord and for people, so that all that they do they are able to do "as unto the Lord". And they might even display great wisdom as Stephen did.

Others don't see the spiritual value attached to physical tasks as clearly as these gifted people are able to do. It is definitely a Spirit-enabled gift and ministry. They are diligent in their assigned tasks, performing it to the best of their God-given abilities. They are very sensitive to practical personal needs. For example, they might visit your home one time only and later bring you a gift that they saw you needed. You might not have even realized you needed it, but they did. They will overlook their own personal discomfort to meet people's needs. They will often use their own money to make things happen.

They don't need a lot of public recognition, but a little appreciation can go a long way. Without that appreciation, they can become vulnerable to bitterness; they must maintain a close walk with the Lord in all that they do. Unfortunately, because they are not in the spotlight, it behooves the church as a whole to make special effort towards showing proper appreciation for these "unseen" workers.

Here are some examples of areas of work being done "behind the scenes" by gifted servers in today's modern churches. Again, these could be tasks assigned to the deacons or to many others within the church without the title of deacon:

• audio/visual, yard maintenance, building repairs, janitorial or housekeeping, bookkeeping, newsletters/bulletins, secretarial duties, mass mailings, setting up (and taking down) chairs and tables, kitchen help/food servers, nursery workers
  

I know there are many tasks that I have overlooked, but the point is that these folks are just spiritually-geared to do these physical tasks with joy and fulfillment!

Let me try another example to help clarify. I myself am not "gifted" primarily as a server. My primary gifting lies elsewhere. But I am experienced in accounting and financial work, having done it most of my adult life. You might think then that I would be perfect for the job of accounting for the church, but even though I am naturally able to do so, it would be one of the most unfulfilling and unfruitful things I could do. My heart would not be in it, because my heart is in the gift that the Holy Spirit has given me, which I believe is teaching. Now, I could "teach" about accounting, I could "teach" others how to handle their finances better, and be fulfilled in that work, not because it has to do with accounting or finances, but because the focus is "teaching". It is vitally important for us all to see that the area in which the Holy Spirit has gifted us must be properly utilized, regardless of our natural abilities. Let the Lord incorporate our natural abilities into the spiritual abilities He has provided us, rather than jump to that ourselves.

The biggest clue I can give you about whether you are functioning in your gift or not is this: Lack of joy and lack of fruit in a ministry is a sure sign that someone is NOT moving in the areas for which they have been gifted. The worst possible thing for the body of Christ, and for those who don't yet know Christ, would be to have someone doing one of these tasks in the church without being GIFTED to do so! They will be grouchy, spiritually unfulfilled, and just all around not pleasant to be around! We have all seen this happen in churches! It's a terrible thing to see! It reminds me of the scene from the movie "Pollyanna" where the preacher's hell-fire and brimstone preaching on Sundays gives everyone a "sour" stomach that ruins their Sunday meal! People working primarily in areas for which they have not been gifted can create "sourness" in the church as well! And that can turn people away from wanting more of what Jesus has to offer them! It can even send people looking for another church! It is critical that we function primarily in our gifts!

On the other hand, to witness someone doing the simplest tasks with joy because of the gifting of the Holy Spirit, becomes a real blessing and a God-ly model to the body of Christ.

Brother Lawrence, who lived most of his life in a Carmelite monastery as a lay-brother rather than a religious cleric (because he lacked a proper education), is a very famous example of a gifted server. This information comes from an article about him in Wikipedia:

"He was assigned to the monastery kitchen where, amidst the tedious chores of cooking and cleaning at the constant bidding of his superiors, he developed his rule of spirituality and work. In his Maxims, Lawrence writes, "Men invent means and methods of coming at God's love, they learn rules and set up devices to remind them of that love, and it seems like a world of trouble to bring oneself into the consciousness of God's presence. Yet it might be so simple. Is it not quicker and easier just to do our common business wholly for the love of him?" For Brother Lawrence, "common business," no matter how mundane or routine, could be a medium of God's love. The sacredness or worldly status of a task mattered less than motivation behind it. "Nor is it needful that we should have great things to do…we can do little things for God; I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of Him, and that done, if there is nothing else to call me, I prostrate myself in worship before Him, who has given me grace to work; afterwards I rise happier than a king. It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God." Brother Lawrence felt having a proper heart about tasks made every detail of his life possess surpassing value. "I began to live as it there were no one save God and me in the world." All that he did, whether cooking meals, running errands, or scrubbing pots, he felt that he did alongside God. (Encouragement for many of us house-wives!) Despite his lowly position in life and in the monastery, his character attracted many to him. He had a reputation for experiencing profound peace and visitors came to seek spiritual guidance from him. The wisdom he passed on to them, in conversations and in letters, would later become the basis for the book, The Practice of the Presence of God. "We ought not to be weary of doing little things for the love of God; who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed. " Thus spoke Brother Lawrence."

This is exactly the kind of thinking that one with the Gift of Serving will have. If you don't have it, don't do it.

Again, just as the biggest blessing can come from someone who has this gift, the reverse is also true; when one does the tasks without the blessing of the Holy Spirit to do so, well, I can think of many comparisons, but none that are edifying to the body of Christ OR glorifying to God.

As for the rest of us, we're not off the hook just because we are not "gifted" as Servers. Remember, while we all have a primary gift, we are all called to minister in ALL the gifts at some time or another! When that time arrives, we can only be helped by remembering the attitude of Brother Lawrence, as well as those gifted servers among us; making sure that our HEARTS, like theirs, are up to the task!to be weary of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed.