Steven J. Cole writes about the ‘Mothball Navy’, 700 United States Navy ships which are anchored in different harbours around the country, waiting to serve if required. They receive regular maintenance to prevent rust and thus require a lot of money and effort to maintain them. He likens this to the fact that in any church, it’s usually 20% of the people who do 80% of the work,[1] saying that many Christians are doing nothing to serve the Lord.
Whilst it is easy to generalise and even condemn others unnecessarily, it is true that all Christians are called to serve God. Service could be said to be the hallmark of the Christian, for ‘even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many’ (Mark 10:45) and Jesus, in washing His disciples’ feet, urged His disciples to do likewise. (John 13:1-17) Saul is an example to us of one whose conversion quickly led to his service. In Acts 9:19-31 we see him preaching in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God and the Christ. All his previous knowledge of the Old Testament is useful in this, as is his time spent with Jesus. We may not feel able to engage in this kind of ministry, but the truth of the Bible is that God accepts all our service. Jesus said, ‘if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.’ (Matt 10:42) Anyone can do that!
All of us need to be able to tell our story, of how Jesus has met us and saved us. (Ps 107:2) All of us are called to be witnesses. (Acts 1:8) We need to have a desire to serve Jesus, and if we ask Him, He will show us how best we can serve. If you’re interested in learning more about how to testify and explain the gospel, join with us at the Franklin Graham training day at Full Life Church in Maltby on Saturday 29th February (9.30 a.m. – 12.30 p.m.) But whatever you do, don’t just sit back and do nothing – God wants us to be His servants, seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness.
[1] https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-23-getting-involved-ministry-acts-919-31