Serving Over Services

The other day I was on one of many Zoom calls. This one was with a group of pastors I call my brothers in the ministry. We were all trained in church planting by the same mentor—Bob Roberts, the founder of Glocalnet. (Bob turned all of our lives upside down years ago by teaching us about the Kingdom of God. More about that later.)

These calls are a personal highlight for me. They range from the serious to the silly. You never know exactly what will come out of them. On this particular day, we happened upon some profundity. Somewhere in the midst of the call, my friend, Nic, made a profound statement. We were talking about how the coronavirus pandemic has forced many pastors and churches to embrace technology in ways they had not done previously, and, by extension, the anxiety that was causing for many of them. That was when Nic spoke up and said something to this effect:

“I was on a Zoom call earlier this week,” he said, “with pastors from another network. All they could talk about was when they were going to be able to worship in person again. It felt like to me they were missing the big picture. If you have the Kingdom, you may not be able to meet in person, but you’ll never lose influence.”

What was Nic driving at?

In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, our church was upended. We lost the ability to meet as we had for almost two and half years. Our student ministry (led incredibly well by our Student Pastor, Rylan) met in four (five?) different locations—including a literal tent. Yes, a tent. Like you would picture for an old school revival. Our kids met in portables and behind thin dividers. Our adults—even our most senior adults—moved into houses. It was chaos.

And yet our church’s influence skyrocketed during that season.

Why?

Simply put, we focused on serving our neighbors, because that is the Way of the Kingdom.

When Jesus was facing death—a death he knew that was coming, he chose to wash the feet of his disciples. Me? Over the years I’ve joked around about what I’d do if I knew I had 24 hours left to live. I’d eat junk food. I’d go on a trip. I’d do something crazy.

Jesus knew. And he washed feet.

The King of the Universe chose to wash feet as his last great gesture, because, as he put it, he wanted his disciples to know that if he—God in flesh—would wash feet, then those who follow him must do so, because they are not greater than he is. Jesus said, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” (John 13:14)

Jesus was leaving his followers and his last great command was this—serve others.

Wash feet.

Many churches today are known for their services, for their preaching. And—just to be clear—I love preaching! And I love great worship services! In fact, I think we have some pretty incredible worship services at my own church. The worship service brings God glory He is due. It is important. It is central. It is the work of the people. And the worship service is a moment to remind the church of who we are. We preach the gospel of Jesus so that we can invite others to join—and so that we can remember who we are. We do this because the church will scatter after the worship gathering. And, as they scatter, they will influence people and domains I will never see.

And this is where the church can change a city.

When church members feed the hungry, the Kingdom is displayed.

When church members donate blood, the Kingdom is displayed.

When church members run errands for the elderly or vulnerable, the Kingdom is displayed.

In this season, no one is going to remember my highly produced live stream. They may remember the Scripture or the way the Word is preached through the movement of the Spirit across lens and screen. But they aren’t going to care about video production. What will they care about? They will care about the churches who served. They will care about the churches who loved their neighbors. This is one of the most effective ways to preach the gospel in the season of the pandemic—to serve and give selflessly, like Jesus.

Because the ones who wash feet are the ones who—counterintuitively—gain influence.

When you serve, people are more interested in your message. When you serve, they are more interested in the God-Man we emulate.

Most preachers think it’s about the service.

Jesus knew it was about serving.

In this season, the motto is simple: serving over services.