In a previous post, we established that worship and service are important to believers. It simply boils down to finding a good balance.
This piece will make much of service. People approach service in two major ways.
Some people willingly and readily offer themselves to serve. They take every opportunity that comes their way. Sometimes, they don’t wait; they go for opportunities.
On the other hand, some people will square a circle before they offer themselves to serve. They may be willing and ready to serve but will not make a move until someone nudges them or picks them.
This is the thing.
In many settings, the latter tend to be hailed for humility, while the former are dismissed as proud individuals.
Is that so?
No. Not quite.
Readily taking opportunities to serve is not bad or necessarily implies that you are proud. Holding back is not a sign of humility.
At face value, it might appear to be humility, but at the core, it is a false humility stance. Provided the motive is right, there’s nothing wrong about being proactive in exercising your God-given gifts to serve others.
In fact, the Bible encourages a proactive approach to service.
The parable of trees
Let’s draw some wisdom from a little-known proverb in the Bible, the parable of trees.
In Judges 9, a sinister plot plays out.
After Gideon dies, Abimelech, a child he got with a concubine from Schechem, colludes with his tribespeople to wrestle leadership away from the legitimate line. To solidify his coup, he sets out to kill all his half-brothers.
Luckily, Jotham, Gideon’s son, escapes and survives the bloodbath. Well aware of what was going on, he tells a proverb to condemn the injustice his halfbrother and his tribesmen had done to his family (Judges 9:7-15).
The trees bypassed all the good trees with desirable qualities and ended up with a thornbush with all its thorns as their leader. Essentially, the Shechemites forfeited all possible good leaders among the 70 sons of Gideon and settled for the worst in their kin, Abimelech.
Granted, Abimelech fronted himself, but they went along with it.
Such an example is why some people frown at offering to serve. What if I do and it goes wrong?
The dangers of qualified people holding back
While it is risky, the other side of the coin is worse. The danger of good, qualified leaders sitting back is that the group may end up being led by a bad or unqualified leader who readily offered themselves to lead.
In the parable, the trees ended up with the undesirable thornbush as the leader because the other trees with good qualities were unwilling to lead.
If the olive tree gave up its oil and lead, the fig tree its sweet fruit, or the vine its good wine to lead, they wouldn’t end up with the pricky thornbush as their leader.
Likewise, if good people with desirable leadership qualities are reluctant to lead, they may be led by people with questionable leadership qualities.
It is a pretty sad state of affairs, which may be the reality in many places. That’s why you need to offer yourself to serve readily.
Many nations and organizations, groups, you name it, might be struggling because good people with great leadership qualities have shied away from leadership, giving the worst options a field day.
Do you even have the moral authority to complain about bad leadership if you were a better option but did not offer to lead?
Go for it: why you need to offer yourself to serve readily
If you feel God is leading you to do something you know very well you can do, don’t hesitate. Take up the offer to serve. If your motive is right, you are well in order.
God Has given you gifts/ special abilities to carry out certain roles, and He expects you to use them. Take a proactive approach. When opportunities present, grab them. Don’t be lethargic.
As you do that, beware of the dreams killer imposter syndrome and manage it.
Serve well and make God happy. Be the light and salt in spheres God allows you to serve by doing it well.
Saint, don’t sit back and wait to be volunteered. Well, God can sovereignly seek you out through the people around you, but why wait? Not when God calls us to exercise our gifts (2 Timothy 1:7).
Do not withhold the good of your service (Proverbs 3:27).
Honor God by readily putting yourself in spaces where you can serve His people.
Go for it.
Don’t fall for the false humility holding back your service. There’s nothing humble about waiting to be told to do what you know you should be doing. Actually, it is pride to expect God to come for you after placing in you gifts and leading you to spaces where you can exercise them.
Caution!
That said, two points of caution.
Pause and think
This does not mean rushing and taking up opportunities without prayerful consideration. Ask Ahimaaz.
Ahimaaz was stubbornly eager to take a message he didn’t know well and ended up being put aside as the Cushite delivered complete information (2 Samuel 18:19-33).
Spare yourself the embarrassment.
When an opportunity to serve is presented, pause and think about it. Talk to God about it. When you feel His nudge to take it up, proceed.
This, however, does not mean that you have to be fully informed about a matter to take up the challenge to serve. There is space for God’s grace to help, perfect, and qualify those He Has called. But having a working knowledge of the matter and seeking to grow in it is good.
Or at least have the assurance God is leading you in a given direction, for there are cases when God calls people to new spaces and specially equips them (1 Corinthians 1:26-31).
Balance: why you need to offer yourself to serve readily
Two, don’t burn the candle at both ends. There is so much work to be done; no matter how proactive and committed you are, you can’t do it all. Sign up for one or two tasks and do them well.
Conclusion
As mentioned, readily offering oneself to serve is not a sign of pride, and holding back is not a sign of humility. The key is finding a good balance, for God expects us to serve Him and His people fully. Go for the opportunities after prayerful consideration.
Sometime we take a back seat and just watch things as we wait for the “right time”. Although we know what we ought to do, infact we may even have prayed about it and gotten confirmation from God that it is His will, we still wait for the right time. Does it ever come? Sadly, things keep getting worse and hey!who is willing to step in when it’s all messy? It is easy to put blames than to try and correct the situation.
It happens most of the time.
There is also the fear of taking that first step. I know the bible says that God has not given us the spirit of fear….but still many things have gone wrong because fear has held us back from taking that big step.
May the Lord help us to always be willing and prepared to serve.
Glad to see you back Ken. Had missed your words full of wisdom.
Blessings.
Thank you for reading through and giving your input. Waiting for the “right time” can be very enticing but as you said, it may never come. Great additions worth consideration!