Service

Romans 12:7a

The Spiritual Gift of Service

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

Romans 12:7a (Holman) . . .if service, in service;

 

            The gift of service is a God-given empowerment enabling us to gladly perform practical acts of service to the personal needs of others in Jesus' name. The Greek word implied a slave's work, the humblest service of one for another.

            Our Master said He came to serve, not to be served (Matthew 20:28). Thus it is no surprise that service is one of the gifts most often claimed by His followers.

            Not every believer has the spiritual gift of service, but all believers are to serve. Sometimes a person will justify harshness, indifference, or laziness by saying they don't have this gift. This claim is bogus. Serving others has to be a priority for us all. Kindness, Christianity in action, is expected of every believer.

            We may not all share the exuberance of servants, but none of us should ever feel too good to stoop. We should all serve and help when situations present themselves to us. If we ever feel hesitant to serve, say to ourselves, "My Master washed feet."

            It is difficult to over-estimate the importance Paul and early believers placed on service. Paul travelled over 900 miles, from Corinth all the way to Jerusalem, to carry an offering to serve the poor saints there. The early church set aside an order of servants in Acts 6 to see that this vital work of service was not neglected.

            Compassion for the less fortunate must be a priority in our churches. Service is the kind of thing that can easily get lost in the busy shuffle of a congregation. Therefore, it must not be left to happenstance.

We have to find those who have the spiritual gift of service, put value on them, and urge them to lead us by example in this work. Thus we ask, who are these people? All are to serve, but how do we know if we are in the some who have the spiritual gift of service? A few traits may help us know.

One, you must serve, and see if it resonates with you. Spiritual gifts are found more by trial and error than by taking spiritual gifts tests. Our church offers many opportunities you can try: Labor for Your Neighbor, event volunteers, Victory Garden, Victory Mission meals, Media Ministry, Teddy Bear Ministry, Awana, the Vine college ministry, Flower and Bread Ministries, Stephen Ministry, baptism volunteers, groups, Special Needs, etc. Find a place to try, and have at it.

Two, servants are drawn to people and projects needing help. They don't have their arm twisted to serve. Their antennas are always up, looking for ways to pitch in. They see what needs to be done and gladly do it.

            If a classroom is in shambles at class time, a person with discernment will say, "Someone missed an assignment." An administrator says, "Find a custodian." A person with wisdom would say, "We should check our room earlier each week." A person with the gift of giving comments, "We must pay our custodians more." The teacher would say, "Oh no, what am I to do? I can't teach in chaos like this."

While others ruminate, and wax eloquent, servants start rearranging chairs and picking up trash. They have the room in order in about two minutes, finding as much satisfaction in doing this as the teacher will later find in teaching the lesson.

A Bible model for servants is Dorcas, who "was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity, which she continually did" (Acts 9:36b NAS). "Abounding" is the key word here. People with the gift of service gladly do dishes, take out garbage, clean floors, set up tables, visit the homebound, take food to the sick, care for the poor, greet strangers at the door, help older adults navigate stairs, etc. They ever seek ways to minister a kindness to others, and are thrilled to do so.

Three, servants do not crave the limelight. In fact, they often find attention to be a detriment. Quietly working behind the scenes is okay. A helper enjoys sincere appreciation, a simple thank you, but is embarrassed by public recognition.

This is one reason I know I do not have the gift of service. I never regretted applause or public recognition. I enjoy seeing my name in lights or in big letters on the program. Christ-followers like me desperately need the example of servants.

Four, servants have an extraordinary love for Jesus. The Bible teaches us; all who give to the poor give to the Lord who will repay the gift (Proverbs 19:17).

Matthew 25:34-40 carries this idea further. To feed the hungry is to feed the Lord. To give water to the thirsty is to give a drink to Jesus. To take in a stranger is receiving Jesus. To clothe the naked means to cover the Master. To visit the sick is the same as visiting the Lord. To visit those in prison is to spend time with Jesus.

            Every deed of service, every act of compassion, is a gift given to the Lord. Therefore, it provides us a way to express this love we have in our heart for Jesus.

If serving others is a way for us to give to Jesus, then help us find people who need service. We don't want to wait until they come to us. Seek them out.

People with the gift of service must try serving and see if it resonates, are drawn to people and projects needing help, do not crave the limelight, and have an extraordinary love for Jesus. But, as with all spiritual gifts, service has dangers.

One, forgetting the difference between spiritual service and what we commonly term social services. Deeds of compassion within the fellowship are not the same as those done by the government and other secular organizations. This does not mean we underappreciate the latter. We are grateful for everything done to help the disenfranchised. I am merely trying to define the difference.

            A Christ-follower does spiritual service in the name of Jesus. All we do is done to let Jesus love people through us. We want others to know it is ultimately His compassion, not ours, flowing through our deeds. We do what we do in order to make a good impression on others for Jesus. In our deeds of compassion Jesus should somehow be honored. I do not mean we should blow a horn, or carry a Jesus sign. But we do need to somehow find a way to let people see Jesus in us.

Two, exhaustion. People with the spiritual gift of service can find it hard to say no to every need. They gladly serve to the point of exhaustion, regretting there isn't more to do. As a result, often their families suffer. (This can be a danger for all the gifts.) People bragging on our serving and saying thanks can be addicting.

Others may show more appreciation for us than our own family does. But remember, our families must not be neglected. We have to minister to them first.

Three, failing to know service requires spiritual empowerment. In Acts 6 the seven men who were set apart for the work of serving had to be "full of faith and the Holy Ghost." Since serving is spiritual work, it requires constant spiritual renewal. You know I have to seek God's anointing to enhance my gift of teaching. In the same way, those involved in service must constantly seek help from above.

            Stay in prayer, read the word, commune with Jesus. Spiritual work drains us. We must always renew our inner strength. One day Spurgeon looked out a window above a city square. People were coming to draw from the town's water pump.

One man, with a yoke over his shoulders carrying two large buckets, kept returning again and again through the day. The preacher said he learned a lesson from that water carrier. It was obvious the man was not drawing for himself only.

He was working to provide water for many people. Since he had many to carry water to, he had to come to the source more often than others did.

            The same is true of all who serve. You carry living water to others. Your supply of strength will quickly diminish unless you are constantly replenishing it.

 

Teaching

Romans 12:7c

The Spiritual Gift of Teaching

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

In some way or another, teaching touches the heart and soul of essentially everything we do collectively as Christ-followers--evangelism, missions, discipleship, raising children, training workers, etc. Our faith is based on history, on events, on facts and information that need to be shared. Thus, we teach.

 

Teaching has always been a deeply rooted part of us. David said that from his youth, God the Father had been his teacher (Psalm 71:17). Nicodemus described our Master, God the Son, as "a teacher come from God" (John 3:2). Jesus said God the Holy Spirit "shall teach you all things" (John 14:26).

 

Every Pastor is to be "able to teach" (1 Tim. 3:2b). Hebrews 5:12 and the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20) say every believer, in some way, should be teaching others. You say, "I could never teach adults." Teach teens. If this also is not for you, teach children, toddlers, or babies. Be discipling. Mentor someone.

 

Everyone is to teach. A believer is to receive nothing without sharing it. We must pass on to others everything given to us, including knowledge received. We have no right to display information-selfishness. We all learn, thus we must all teach. Every believer has learned Bible truths they can share with others.

 

We each can do this. Since God expects all of us to teach, education and training are not prerequisites to it. The best Sunday School teacher I had as a child could not read. His wife would teach him the lesson on Saturday. On Sunday morning, we boys would read from the quarterly a few sentences at a time, and then pause while he explained what we had read.

 

Having made the point that all, not some, are to teach, we now add that some, not all, are given the spiritual gift of teaching. How can we know if we are not only in the "all", but also in the "some" who have the spiritual gift of teaching?

 

One, we must teach, and see if it clicks. We have to try teaching, and see how we do at it. Spiritual gifts are found by trial and error. Spiritual gifts tests may help, but these sometimes indicate what we wish we were, more than what we are.

We at Second offer lots of options you can try, including Student World Impact, ESL, WMU, Upward, Weekday Preschool, AWANA, Discipleship, Adult Bible Fellowships, Second Gen, Tiny Town, Equipped classes, in-home college groups, etc. You have to start trying somewhere. Find a place to experiment.

 

Two, we must radically love the Bible. A teacher knows it is hard to overstate the importance of teaching in the life of a church, because Bible ignorance is the mother of all error. The gift of teaching combats this problem.

In their book "Good Faith," David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons shared blunt truth. "Reduced trust in the Bible has the same impact as removing the foundation from under a building. Everything starts to crumble. Many Christians worry about secularism taking over, but secularism shouldn't be our greatest concern. In other words, secularism's advance is downstream from anemic Bible engagement" (pp. 226-227). Teachers keep us sensitive to accurately interpreting God's Word. Proper Bible teaching saves heartaches by keeping people on the best, right tracks. It helps intellect and understanding by giving clear explanations of the Bible.

 

Three, we like to study. The spiritual gift of teaching usually includes liking to do research in order to make sure a lesson is neither sloppy nor slothful. Luke is a great example of how important this trait is. To prepare for writing his Gospel, Luke "investigated everything carefully from the beginning" (Luke 1:3b NAS). He researched and organized, and then turned around and did the same thing with the book of Acts. Thus, at least 25% of our New Testament is due to the kind of hard work a person with the spiritual gift of teaching usually enjoys doing. Let me illustrate this trait from my own experience. Administrivia is hard on me, but when I study, I am content. Books energize me. I love books; they are not mean, never bite, fight, or whine, and are always in a good mood. For teachers, extended preparation is no problem. We gladly cross land and sea to glean the answer to a question, or to understand a Bible verse better.

 

Four, we are not boring. We are always trying to find a good illustration or story, or a new angle to a concept. The reception of truth by our listeners is what matters most to us. We like to see people in the audience are taking notes. Pencils and paper give proof of spirituality. Teachers are given, as part of their spiritual gift, the desire to pass on truth, to set up a lesson, in a way to make it interesting. We have the gift of teaching if people don't fall asleep when we teach, and they keep coming back for more.

         The critical importance to Christianity of communication which captivates is why I believe drama, writing, music, and the other arts are part of the teaching gift. These disciplines capture attention, and challenge in unique, varied ways people's perspectives of God and life. A picture, cartoon, movie, essay, book, song, and artwork can serve as attention-arresting props. They make a message more moving by bypassing worn-out circuits of the brain, creating new nerve pathways to penetrate a soul's essence. A generation ago, Francis Schaeffer said of Christianity, if we lose the arts, we lose the culture. The arts powerfully communicate truth. It's not art for art's sake, but for God's sake, and art for truth's sake, to drive Christ's message home.

 

            People with the spiritual gift of teaching must teach and see if it clicks, must radically love the Bible, like to study, and are not boring. These traits unite us. As with all spiritual gifts, we need to know not only the traits, but also the dangers that can accompany the spiritual gift of teaching.

 

One, people can start equating being smart with being spiritual. Many of the religious leaders in Jesus' day faltered here. They became vain and smug due to their believing they had a corner on truth. We teachers can be tempted to overvalue our knowledge. We often do know more than others. Thus we can begin to see ourselves as above others spiritually, and look down on people less knowledgeable. Be ever mindful, a person may be well trained in theology and yet be a stranger to the power of godliness. With regard to one's everlasting destiny, the issue is not what we know or how much we know, but rather Who we know. To live a life pleasing to God, knowing about the Holy Spirit is not nearly as important as how well we know Him. Our primary need is transformation, not information. Intimacy with Jesus is more important than a brain full of facts.

 

Two, pride is a danger. Being up front can intoxicate. We do not understand people who claim they fear public speaking more than dying. This means at a funeral they would rather be the corpse than have to give the eulogy. I have never met a camera or crowd I did not like. Teachers have to be on guard against pride. Humility must be our never-ending pursuit.

 

Three, being too scholarly, hard to understand. I grew up hearing erudite preachers. Their style was over the top; they used artificial inflections and words hard to understand, in order to impress people with their learning. I'm glad that form of "elocution got electrocuted" (to speak eruditely), and is extinct. Our task is to be real, and to keep the message simple, understandable, and practical. Being full of facts, a trait we love, can make us cold or insensitive to our audience. Information conveyed can become more valued by the teacher than the person it is conveyed to. We must never forget; our task is not to amass knowledge for knowledge's sake. We learn in order to help the listener. A danger for teachers is to be strong in information, but weak in application. We tend to give more info than needed, because we love the trivial as much as the practical. Teachers not only like to teach how the furniture in the temple helped us worship. We want to tell how big the furniture was, its weight and dimensions, how old it was, what it looked like, what may have happened to it when the temple was destroyed. All of this fascinates teachers. Background information is helpful, but most teachers must always be trimming their material to remain practical.

 

Four, not practicing what we preach. Hypocrisy is never a minor matter, and is especially bad when seen in a teacher. Never be a teacher flippant about Godliness. Like it or not, ours is a higher accountability. I had an advantage here; I grew up in a Pastor's home. Thus, I always knew about the glass bowl effect. Living under a double standard never bothered me, but many do not want to be held to a higher standard. Be that as it may, a teacher must never forget; holiness matters most.

 

Paul Planted

I Corinthians 3:6a

Paul Planted

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

When considering church planting, we Baptists should, as we ought to with every matter, look to Scripture for models of how to move forward. Maybe our most helpful Bible example is Paul the Apostle.

 

I Corinthians 3:6a (Holman) I planted, . . .

 

            Paul said, "I planted." Planted what? The church at Corinth. This was one of several churches Paul started. Paul was a church-planting machine. We call his travels "Missionary Journeys." We could call them "Church-Planting Journeys."

            Paul is a valid Bible model for us when considering church planting, but let me stretch the envelope farther. Where did Paul get the idea to plant churches? I believe the Holy Spirit began laying the groundwork for this 600 years before Paul.

            After the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C., synagogues became the most important institution in Jewish life. During the Babylonian captivity, the Jews were separated from their temple, priests, and holy city. To save their heritage they let any village, wherever located, that had at least ten Jewish men in it establish a synagogue. These small gathering places became the center and preservers of Jewish culture in three ways. One, they served as schools where children learned to read and write, and were taught Israel's history and heritage. Two, synagogues served as meetinghouses where adults mingled, and talked theology and religion.

Three, synagogues served as worship centers. Their services were informal, and followed a simple agenda: prayers, Scripture readings, a lecture, discussion. (Sounds a lot like a typical Baptist small group.) Any approved layman wishing to speak could give the lecture. Jesus, Stephen, and Paul used this to their advantage.

            The synagogues were so successful that after the temple was rebuilt, they continued to be used. By New Testament times, synagogues were everywhere in the Roman world--480 in Jerusalem alone--as if God had been preparing the world for an army of people who would have learned to gather in groups, "churches" if you will.

            The proliferation of synagogues greatly enhanced the spread of Christianity. Paul is mentioned as going into synagogues in Damascus (Acts 9:2); Salamis (Acts 13:5); Antioch (Acts 13:14); Iconium (Acts 14:1); Thessalonica (Acts 17:1); Berea (Acts 17:10); Athens (Acts 17:17); Corinth (Acts 18:4); and Ephesus (Acts 18:19).

            In the early days of the Christian religion, when many Christians were Jews, they would go to synagogue on the Sabbath, as they had always done. This is why Paul, when seeking Christians to persecute, went to the synagogues to find them (Acts 9:2; 22:19; 26:11). This also helps explain how Christian worship services got started on Sunday. The early believers went to synagogue on the Sabbath, and they met on Sunday as Christ-followers. Sunday worship became the norm as the Jews began forcing Christians out of the synagogues, and as a growing number of Christians were Gentiles, who could not participate in the synagogue services.

            An interesting world-changing event that happened in the European city of Philippi can be traced to the Jewish custom of gathering in groups on the Sabbath. Paul, while in Troas, on the west coast of Asia minor (now Turkey), received the Macedonian Call. "During the night a vision appeared to Paul: a Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him, "Cross over to Macedonia and help us!"" (Acts 16:9). In response to this call, Paul decided to leave Asia to take the Gospel into Europe, to the province of Macedonia, for the first time.

            He crossed the Aegean Sea, and walked ten miles to the city of Philippi. He had to walk over a steep mountain ridge. (Was the first church in Europe named Hill City?) Finding no Jewish synagogue and no believers in the city, Paul decided to act on a hunch. He believed if there were any Jews in town, they would gather as a small group on the Sabbath somewhere in a set-apart place of prayer, away from pagan temples and near a source of water due to their ritual washings.

            Therefore, on the Sabbath he walked outside the city limits about one mile to the Gangites River (Acts 16:13). His hunch turned out to be a holy one. He was right. A small group had gathered there. The result was the conversion of Lydia.

The point is, Paul knew to look for a small group. God's people have always felt a need to gather in groups. As Paul knew, this was true in Old Testament Judaism—if ten men could be found, synagogues began; if fewer than ten men were there, small groups formed. Once New Testament Christianity started, groups and churches ("synagogues") appeared everywhere. Boom! They were there.

On the evening of Resurrection Sunday and on the next Sunday, the disciples gathered as a small group (John 20:19,26). By the Sea of Galilee, seven disciples gathered as a group (John 21:2). After Jesus ascended, 120 believers—sounds like a church to me—gathered in the Upper Room to pray for 10 days.

At Pentecost, they were all gathered in one place (Acts 2:1). After Pentecost, they were gathering in the Temple and from house to house (Acts 2:46). The increase due to groups was spontaneous and explosive. Everything broke loose!

            But I digress! Paul's second stop on his first Missionary (church-planting) foray into Europe was Thessalonica. (Was the second church in Europe called Second Baptist?) Philippi was too small to have a synagogue, but Thessalonica had one, and Paul went to it immediately (Acts 17:1).

            Within months of the church's founding, Paul wrote his two Thessalonian letters, the first New Testament writings, our oldest Christian documents. Paul planted churches in Philippi and Thessalonica. Now Hill City enters the drama. You are now stewards of Paul's legacy. You must follow his lead. According to 2 Thessalonians 3:1, Paul's habit of starting new churches spread quickly. It wasn't a onetime flash in the pan for him. Paul intended to do it over and over again.

"Over and over again"—this is the driving phrase. Second has started 44 churches in the last seven years; forty are ongoing. Hill City, you are our daughter. I plead with you to join us "over and over again" in this larger-than-life enterprise.

Why do I feel justified in coming to make this plea boldly to you? One, because church planting is a long-term win. The new church plants in Philippi and Thessalonica endured. The church in smaller Philippi, which started from a small group, lasted 550 years, till the city was destroyed by an earthquake. The church in larger Thessalonica, which started from a synagogue group, also succeeded. Its oldest church building, The Church of Holy Wisdom, sits on a spot where there has been a Christian church since the 200s. There has been a Christian presence in Thessalonica from 51 A.D. to today, 1966 years later.

Paul's efforts at church-planting had long-term success. This is still common in USA church planting. Two years after being started, 92% of new churches still exist, after three years 81%, after four years 68%. The average attendance is 41 after one year, 56 after two, 73 after three, and 84 after four. These are impressive numbers when we realize the average USA church has 75 in attendance.       

Two, because church planting is an immediate win. The new church plant in Thessalonica worked. Paul said to believers there, "You became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia" (1Thess. 1:7b). Within months, this brand-new church was already the talk of Christians throughout two Roman provinces.

Churches were abuzz about this baby church. Holy gossip was deservedly flying. The church was already characterized by faithfulness and love (2 Thess. 1:3). New churches can quickly do mighty works. Paul saw it in the Thessalonians.

I have seen it in you, Hill City. Do not think you are too young to take the on-ramp into this drama. You are only one year old, but you were born fully grown and fully mature. I remind you, less than 10% of all USA congregations have 350 or more attenders. If you at Hill City cannot plant churches, who can?

Three, because church planting is a kingdom win. It brings more people into the kingdom. This matters to me. My dad was a great soul winner, as is your Pastor. I'm not, thus I always feel guilty. A Peter Wagner quote arrested my attention. "The single most effective evangelistic methodology under heaven is planting new churches."

            His argument is hard to refute. Established Southern Baptist churches baptize 3.4/100 members. New ones baptize over three times more at 11.7/100.

Church-planting requires a heightened level of love for unbelievers. Do we act as if finding the lost is worth the sacrifice required to plant churches?

            Four, because church planting is a must-win. We have to do this. George G. Hunter, a Methodist and one of my favorite writers, said the only difference between the declining Methodist numbers and increasing Southern Baptist numbers is the number of new churches the latter started. If new churches had not been started, Southern Baptists would also have a diminishing graph. If Hunter is correct, Christianity will wane in the USA without church-planting.

            Through all the hardships early Christ-followers suffered, the idea of starting new groups, whatever their size or final outcome, never wavered. These groups provided a setting where believers practiced and mastered the unending process of spiritual reproduction. As Christ-followers, multiplication is who we are. We multiply disciples. We multiply groups. We multiply churches.

            I am proud of our spiritual daughter, Hill City. May she be like her mother in this regard; may she merge into the church-planting drama that most accurately displays Christian churches for what they are supposed to be.