It is God himself who has made us what we are and give us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others.
Ephesians 2:10 (Living Bible)I glorified you on earth by completing down to the last detail what you assigned me to do.
John 17:4 (The Message)
We’re on to the fourth out of four purposes of the purpose-driven life, service. Rick Warren tells us we’re here to serve God, with five points…
- You were created to serve God
- You were saved to serve God
- You are called to serve God
- You are commanded to serve God
- You will be evaluated on how well you served others with your life
Reminds me of Bob Dylan’s song, “You gotta serve somebody.”
I appreciate Rick’s challenge to live in a counter cultural way – living our lives to serve rather than consume. Likewise the reminder that we’re saved for service, not by service.
Rick introduces us to the idea that God gives everyone a ministry in the church and a mission in the world. Hmm. I wonder why we put service in the context of Christian community and not in the wider world. Is it a reflection of the mood of the New Testament church? The early Christian community was an illegal sect of Judaism. It would be natural for believers to focus on pouring their energy into supporting one another rather than people outside the Christian community. But where I live, we’re in a different context.