There are all sorts of reasons to serve in the local church. It is easy to serve in things that we enjoy but there are good reasons to serve even in things we don’t like quite so much. Here are a few reasons why you might want to think seriously about your service.

Jesus wants you to

Fundamentally, we serve because Christ calls us to serve in his Word. If you aren’t serving in your church at all, you need to contend with the fact that Jesus wants you to do so. Paul repeatedly calls on the church to build up the body and says we are saved to ‘walk in the good works that he has prepared beforehand for us to walk in’. Lots more could be said, but fundamentally, Jesus wants his people to serve and that should be reason enough to get stuck in.

You love others by serving (especially in undesirable jobs)

I have heard some argue that we should only serve in areas we really want to serve in. In a sense this is right, inasmuch as we will only serve in areas we ultimately want to serve in. Nobody can force you to serve and you’ll only do what you, in an ultimate sense, want to do. This is what Jonathan Edwards was going on about in relation to affections – it’s all about what you ultimately desire to do. What people often mean by this though is that we should only serve in those areas we really enjoy or feel gifted to do. I think this latter sense is a mistake.

Of course, it is great when we can serve in areas we enjoy. But there are times when jobs need doing that nobody really wants to do. When my children were toddlers, unsurprisingly, I didn’t massively enjoy wiping their dirty bums. Who, ultimately, feels called and privileged to do that? Nevertheless, I did it because it needed doing, I love them and it was for their good. It also bears remembering that if I didn’t do it, it meant my wife had to do it, which isn’t loving her very well by leaving it to her because I didn’t fancy getting my hands dirty. In exactly the same way, we sometimes do jobs in the church, not because we really love cleaning up or overseeing safeguarding or whatever, but because it is a job that needs doing, it is for the good of the church and we love the church. If we don’t do it, we are necessarily leaving it to someone else and that isn’t loving them very well if it is a generally undesirable job.

Jesus’ power is made perfect in weakness

Sometimes it is a good to serve where we feel competent and able. We praise God for gifting us with the ability to do whatever it is and we glorify him by doing it well. Other times, it is good to serve where we feel inadequate and profoundly unable. Not because being rubbish is a good thing, but because God is glorified all the more when he uses the weak things to confound the strong and the foolish to confound the wise. God’s power is more visibly displayed when we joyfully set about serving in areas most people are not champing at the bit to do and when we serve in areas that we aren’t naturally gifted but we recognise need doing nonetheless.

We grow through our service

It doesn’t take a genius to realise that if you want to grow in your ability to preach, for example, you need to do a lot of preaching. If you want to grow in your ability to teach Sunday School, it pays to take on a lot of teaching in Sunday School. It is just evident to everyone that we grow in our abilities and confidence the more we do certain acts of service. Practice doesn’t always make perfect, but it definitely makes us better.

But we grow spiritually as we serve too. Jesus came not to serve, not to be served. He didn’t come seeking position and authority, but came to make himself the servant of all. We are acting most like Christ when we set about serving, especially when we do so in lowly undesirable areas of service (that is what his foot washing stuff was all about!) If the goal of the Christian life is to grow in christlikeness, not only will serving develop our Christian character, but we are actually acting like Christ when we seek to serve, especially in lowly and hard areas of service.

We exhibit commitment to Christ and his church

Our service ultimately shows that we care about Jesus and his church. We are saying we want to work for the good of the church and its people. Just as taking the bins out at home is not a fun job, but it is necessary for the good of your home and family, so serving in church is not always fun of itself but we do it for the good of our church and our brothers and sisters to whom we’re committed. We might, of course, serve in ways we really enjoy. That’s great. But we have to accept that sometimes there will be things we don’t enjoy so well that need doing too. When we commit to these things we show that this group of people, this place, is something that I value and want to work to serve its good. This is a great witness to a watching world and a real encouragement to fellow believers in the church.