What Is Your Part?

“But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.” 1 Corinthians 12:18, ESV

Jesus said something remarkable about Himself: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.” Mark 10:45, ESV

The Lord of glory came to serve.

That tells us something about the nature of the Christian life. Service is not a minor activity reserved for unusually dedicated Christians. It is part of what it means to follow Christ. If the Master came as a servant, those who belong to Him should not consider service beneath them.

That is especially true within Christ’s church.

Paul describes the church as a body. It has many members, and those members do not all have the same function. An eye does not do what a hand does. A foot does not do what an ear does. Yet every member belongs to the same body, and God Himself has arranged the members “each one of them, as he chose.”

Not every Christian is called to do everything, but every Christian is called to do something.

Some preach. Some teach. Some serve as elders or deacons. Yet even those offices are positions of service. An elder is not a master over Christ’s people. A pastor serves Christ by preaching the Word and caring for the flock entrusted to him. A deacon serves the practical needs of the body. Leadership in Christ’s church never removes the calling to be a servant. It increases the responsibility to serve faithfully.

But service is certainly not limited to ordained officers.

Someone cares for children in the nursery. Someone welcomes people at the door. Someone prepares refreshments. Someone helps maintain the building or watches over the safety of those gathered for worship. Others serve on committees, support missionaries, teach children, visit the sick, or contact those who can no longer regularly attend.

Some ministries never appear on a church schedule.

Paul instructed older Christians to invest themselves in younger Christians. Older women were to teach and encourage younger women. Older men were to demonstrate the maturity that younger men should learn to imitate. Years of walking with Christ can become a ministry when wisdom gained through those years is lovingly shared with another believer.

And there is prayer.

A Christian who is physically unable to serve in many visible ways may still faithfully pray for the pastor, elders, deacons, missionaries, families, children, sick, grieving, and struggling members of the congregation. That service may be unseen by almost everyone, but it is certainly not unseen by God.

Peter wrote, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” 1 Peter 4:10, ESV

There is the purpose.

We serve Christ by serving one another.

The church does not need everyone doing the same thing. A body would be rather useless if every member were an eye. Christ has given His people different abilities, experiences, opportunities, and gifts because the body has different needs.

The question is not whether your service looks like someone else’s.

The question is whether you are serving.

Christianity was never intended to consist of entering a church building on Sunday morning, sitting through a worship service, and then going home until the following Sunday. Christ has placed His people together as a body. We belong to Him, and we belong to one another.

The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.

If that was the path of the Master, it is certainly a worthy path for His disciples.

So, what is your part?

Just a thought.