By: Grace Metzger
Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about serving God through ministries. Growing up with most of my family in church leadership, ministry was just something I’ve always done. From the young age of 11 I was helping in the toddler class. By the time I was 15 I was teaching the toddler class and running coffee ministry every single Sunday. I didn’t have a break, didn’t get a Sunday off to sit in service. I did it because it was expected of me.
That was my understanding of how I should be serving God. I found that while a lot of people also have similar thoughts, there are a lot of people who also tend to do the complete opposite. More and more I’m seeing people who believe that church is about coming together to learn and grow in Christ. They don’t do ministry, don’t clean the church, sing on stage, or teach the little kids. Instead they’re content to come, fellowship, listen to the pastor, and leave.
Are these ways wrong? In my personal opinion, yes and no. I’m a firm believer that you need to attend a service. From the ages of 11-20 I probably attended a hand full of services because I was serving constantly. I was too focused on helping others grow their faith that my own faith started lacking. I look back at how burnt out I got over the years and I feel sad that because of it I ended up taking those moments for granted.
So while I believe in the importance of making sure your are growing and maintaining your own faith through attending church services, I also believe in the importance of helping others grow in their walk with God. I continue to this day to teach the preschool and toddler classes at my church. I am blessed to be able to have a hand in helping create a solid foundation for so many young children. My own faith has grown tremendously from watching these children and their faith. If you’ve ever heard of the phrase “childlike faith” then you understand what I’m talking about. To see someone trust God so much is such an incredible thing to witness.
As humans, we tend to go from one extreme to another. Instead of ministering while also taking time off every once in a while to attend to your own faith, we tend to either overwork ourselves or focus solely on ourselves and forget about helping our family in Christ. I think about Jesus, He was an incredible and dedicated teacher to others and helped many grow their faith. But Jesus also knew when to step away and focus on His relationship with His Father. There are many verses where Jesus stepped away to pray to God or to rest. He knew the importance of balance between the two.
So today I challenge you, if you aren’t in any ministry in your local church to pray for God open your eyes to any calling He might have for you; whether that is running the coffeehouse, being in nursery, cleaning, being on stage, whatever it might be. Ask God to reveal to you where you can serve Him and His house.
If you’re already serving, then take a step back and look at your faith. Have you been burnt out lately? Has your faith been lacking because you’re so focused on helping others that you’ve abandoned your own relationship with God? Ask God to open your eyes to way you can create a healthy boundary between helping Him and His kingdom while also working on growing in your walk with God.
Discussion:
1. Do you serve in a ministry at your church? Share what you do.
2. Are you careful to keep a good balance of serving and growing?
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