Equipping to Serve at Mars Hill

For the past six months I have served Mars Hill East as the pastor for worship and mobilization. Though the “worship” part of my job is more self-explanatory, the mobilization bit might require some clarification. My role as pastor of mobilization involves not just helping ministries to find volunteers, but to help believers find a place to serve where they can do so long-term with joy and contentment. 

Before I parse out a little of what that means, I would like to share a little about my story with regard to serving in the local church. 

I have been leading worship since I was 14 years old. Over the past twenty-five years or so I have not only set up and torn down thousands of sound systems, I have also moved about a gabillion chairs. I have served in a variety of roles as a church staff member, from youth pastor to discipleship pastor to senior pastor to missionary and back to worship pastor. My family and I have served in churches in Alabama, New York, Costa Rica, and Mexico. In short, my wife, Sarah, and I have been a lot of places and done a lot of stuff.

We have experienced the joy of serving in areas of our strengths. We have also felt the tension of serving in areas of weakness out of sheer loyalty to the Body of Christ, and, at times, out of sheer guilt. I have felt great contentment in doing hard physical work week after week, as well as disappointment and burnout by serving without a clear sense of purpose or by serving without boundaries and rest. 

The way I see it, there are two ditches we can fall into when it comes to serving in a local church. 

Ditch one: Burnout. Lots of people kind of wash up at Mars Hill after they have burned out or been burned somewhere else. We are in some sense the Island of Misfit Toys. Because many of us have fallen into the ditch of burnout from years of serving and never saying no, we are just tired, lacking direction, and, maybe most importantly, afraid to jump back in. 

Ditch two: Apathy and atrophy. Due to falling into the first ditch, many people remain apathetic or resistant to serving. They feel guilty when a well-meaning person makes a plea for people to serve (usually in ministry to children). We joke about it; we scratch our heads about it. But the fact is, many people who attend regularly do not serve or contribute to the actual ministry of the church, except, perhaps, by giving money. What results is spiritual atrophy. If an athlete doesn’t use her muscles, they not only grow lazy over time; the muscles lose their functionality and the athlete cannot perform. Many believers, due to apathy, grow less able simply to use their God-given gifts in the Body of Christ. 

Peter the apostle calls us out of both ditches and gives us a solid place to walk. 

He writes, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace:  whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies- in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”  1 Peter 4:10-11   

Churches use all kinds of motivators to get people to serve. The motivators most used are often the poorest, though they may be effective in the short-term; they tend to be either guilt or some form of flattery. Peter gives a different motivator, which is where this passage ends: “that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.”

I want to focus on a few things that Peter highlights here.

Each has received a gift.  Every believer has been given the Spirit and has been gifted by the Spirit for ministry in the Body of Christ. Just as every part of the body has a function and is interdependent on other parts, each believer must function in order for the entire body to be fitted and joined together is that it can grow into Christ-likeness. In other words, serving is not for an elite class of committed disciples; it is for all believers.

Every gift should be used. Every believer has been given a gift to be used in serving others. We tend to think of gifts as something that serves me; but a spiritual gift is something that is for the good of other people. The subconscious acceptance of the believer whose spirituality exists apart from the community of other Christians is simply not in agreement with the Bible. 

Every gift should be used in God’s power. After Peter first mentions serving, he mentions it again in verse 11, saying that whoever serves must do so “as one who serves by the strength that God supplies.” Jesus has said in another context, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). We must be conscious of this because, as we see the Lord use us, it is tempting to think we can operate without a conscious, moment-by-moment dependency on Him for our intelligence, stamina, people skills, administrative prowess, musical talent, or teaching ability. But we cannot afford to operate outside of His strength, and God in His grace tends to provide not-so-subtle ways to prove that very fact.

Every gift should be used to glorify God. This may seem obvious but it isn’t. Even when we say that all things exist to glorify God, the way in which we serve often contradicts this declaration. We have to have this motivator established for the reason that we serve and the way in which we serve. We burn out when we are motivated by something other than God’s glory, and when we serve in something other than God’s strength. 

The final and absolute impetus for serving is “that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.” I love that Peter doesn’t mention us. He does not say, “that God may be glorified through us,” as though we need consciously to focus on ourselves. But we need to place every focus on Jesus, who He is, what He has done, and what He has promised.

We live in a day and age when people are little more than consumers, and as ministers we can be tempted to provide religious services for religious consumers. But we are not called to consumption; rather we are called to a commission: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything Christ has commanded us (Matt. 28:19-20).

First, my hope is that those who serve currently would assess their own reasons for doing it, and that, as they draw near to the God of all grace, they would find their strength renewed. Second, my hope, and prayer, is that apathetic believers would recognize their vital place in the Body of Christ, and that their passion would be kindled to serve according to the strength that God supplies. If you’re going through burnout, I understand the importance of rest. But there is also work to be done until Christ comes. Take this time to seek the Lord about how to return to serving if you’ve been sidelined by something. Work rest into your life’s rhythms and routines. 

As you seek the Lord for wisdom and balance, focus on Peter’s admonition to the church: “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as stewards of God’s varied grace.” We have received gifts from the God of all grace. We are stewards of it in ways that are incomprehensibly multifaceted, and these are to be poured out for the sake of the Body of Christ, for the glory of God.