I work in a para-church (that's a fancy word I've learned at seminary) organization where I spend my entire day serving and meeting the needs of the ten students we have here. So I present this question; at what point do I get to say enough is enough, I don't need to serve you?
Tonight at church we talked about serving and about what it takes in volunteer manpower to run our church. The numbers were huge. Technically speaking we have volunteer positions for everyone. And everyone really should be serving to build up and support the church body as a whole. I'm not saying that I don't want to serve at my church because I do. I love serving at church and being a part of the family and I know that it is the quickest way to become comfortable with the people there but I'm lazy. I work 40 plus hours a week at the house and then spend one of my two days off at school. I 'll be honest I've been avoiding the topic with the people I know at the church because I didn't want to get involved. Part of me wants to say "I've spent the last 7 years in ministry, don't I deserve a break? Why shouldn't I get to stay home every now and again?" Then the singles minister started talking about how we should be serving in the church body. And there is the issue of what Jesus says and the fact that I am trying to be like Jesus so that others will understand a little more about who he is (and isn't).
Jesus tells us that when we see a need we need to fill the need (paraphrased from Matthew 25). He tells us that what ever we do for the least of these we do for him. And earlier this fall a pastor made a huge point in my life: Jesus did not take time for people in his daily schedule. They were his daily schedule. He lived among them, ate with them, and taught them. He did have to take time for himself out of his daily schedule, and he mostly did that in the mornings before the day began and everyone began to demand his attention.
I know what my problem is; I believe that I deserve time for me after spending 8 hours on the clock. But in reality I'm just hiding from other responsibilities that God has placed in my every day life. I don't even want to talk about what it is that I truly deserve. (Praise the Lord for His grace, otherwise my ship would be sunk.) And so after tonight's lesson and conversation I'm beginning to look for ways that I can serve the church here. I'm not as torn as I thought I would be. I'm actually really excited about the possibility of serving in new and old ways here.
I would encourage you to look for ways to serve not only your church (if you have one) but to just serve. There are tons of small ways to help others out every day, we just have to open our eyes to their needs and then move to meet those needs.
Mel C
I would like to add a disclaimer, I am not saying that you should not take some time to be with God on your own everyday. What I am saying is that we can not assume that we deserve time for ourselves when God is calling us to serve others. If God is giving you permission to spend a lot of time alone, then by all means do it. If God is leading you to serve and you choose to take the time "you deserve" for yourself instead then you will be in a very dangerous place. It's not fun there, I've tried it.
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