Early in my husband's days as a Pastor, he had a pulpit fill ministry. As a result, I’ve visited many different churches and have observed that those churches that focus on members' spiritual gifts have vibrant ministries with more people to serve than they need.
The churches that didn’t emphasize serving or spiritual gifts lacked a spirit of service among the congregation. Congregants treated church attendance more as a consumer rather than a server.
I also found it interesting that the churches with vibrant service ministries had an equal number of men and women serving, whereas the churches that didn’t appear to have a bent toward service had primarily older women in attendance who, God bless them, carried the weight of service for the entire church.
This is not how God initially designed service within His House. When the Lord established His church on Earth, He called the men of several tribes to specific work within the Tent of Meeting. “Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, “Take a census of the descendants of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers’ households, from thirty years and upward, even to fifty years old, all who enter the service to do the work in the tent of meeting. This is the work of the descendants of Kohath in the tent of meeting, concerning the most holy things…” Numbers 4:2-4 Different assignments continued down for the Gershonites and Merarites as well. Over 16,000 men were assigned specific service duties within the meeting tent.
I am not implying that only men should serve in the church. It’s more of a sad commentary that many churches have seen a decline in men serving within the body of Christ, and the women essentially “stepping up” into that role.
I can’t tell you how many churches my husband and I visited where the congregation was mainly made up of women. Why is this? Maybe some of the older congregations are seeing a “dying out” of the men who once sat in their pews.
As for the lack of men serving, I wonder if women can be more self-aware of their spiritual gifts, where men are more black and white in their reasoning. For example, my husband and I attended a marriage retreat with several couples from our Bible study. One of the exercises was to complete a spiritual gifts test. I had no problem answering the questions, but my husband couldn’t come up with answers. My friend and I ended up doing the test for him. Lol. We could see his gifts, which my husband had trouble seeing in his own. Maybe this isn’t just a “man thing”.
God’s Word tells us, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" Ephesians 4:10 Not one child of God lacks “assignments” from the Lord. We all have work here on Earth that we were created specifically and uniquely to do.
Let’s look at three reasons you should serve in your local churches.
“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10
You might wonder, what exactly are spiritual gifts? The following list outlines the typical spiritual gifts you could find on a spiritual gifts assessment: Leadership, administration, teaching, knowledge, wisdom, prophecy, discernment, exhortation, shepherding, faith, evangelism, apostleship, service/helps, mercy, giving, hospitality.
The first church I attended early in my Christian walk suggested that new members take a spiritual gifts test. Being a relatively new Believer, I thought this was an excellent step for membership, especially to see where I might be a good fit for service within the church. I was surprised by the results of my test. I expected administration/organization to be my top category since this type of work I did for years is where I thrive. Instead, it fell into a subcategory of my strengths. The number one spiritual gifts category for me was Pastor/Teacher - Prophecy. You can imagine my surprise as I did not see any of these coming. Lol. I am definitely NOT a prophet, nor did I have aspirations to be a pastor or teacher. But God… He knew… He knew that He gifted me with the ability to teach and the ability for discernment (which fits in the category of prophecy). Eventually, I served in that church as a women’s Bible study facilitator and the lead mentor in the Mothers of Preschoolers ministry. As the years went on, those gifts only grew stronger for me, and I am now a Pastor’s wife and women’s ministry leader at my current church.
I hope my experience encourages you to take a spiritual gifts test. You can find them online by googling “free spiritual gifts assessment” or “free spiritual gifts test.” You, too, might be surprised by your results. The testing sites usually give you information on how to use each of the gifts within your churches, communities, and homes.
However your gifting lands, know that the Lord has given you the ability to “complete your assignments,” and what better place to use your spiritual gifts than within your church home? As our verse above states, we have been gifted to serve others. This is how we show God’s grace to our church family. Not only that, our service within the church then extends to our community and to our families.
"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light". 1 Peter 2:9
The idea that you are a priest might be hard to swallow. When we think of priests, we think of those ordained to administer certain rites and act as an intermediary between man and God. Yet as we see in our verse above, all Believers are part of the royal priesthood. So what does that mean exactly? As Believers and priests, we have direct access to God through the blood of Jesus. We can also offer spiritual sacrifices to the Lord without someone else doing it for us.
So how does this apply to serving within the church body? Our verse gives us the answer. “So that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light”. Our life as priests within the holy nation of God declares to everyone that we have been set free by the blood of Jesus. When we serve within the church body, we demonstrate the hands and feet of Jesus to those sitting in the pews who might not be Believers, but to any areas of service that reach the community and beyond. What might this look like? Being a greeter at church and serving in the kitchen during hospitality hour. Show mercy to visitors who seem down on their luck and converse with them—sitting and praying with a grieving widow in your congregation. It would be impossible to list all the ways you could show Christ to others by serving within your local church. But I hope this gives you some ideas of how simple yet impactful serving within the priesthood of the church body can be. Each one of those actions proclaims God’s goodness who sent His Son to die for our sins. When we serve with humility within the church, we demonstrate the love of God and are “preaching” the Gospel through our deeds, whether right within our church, an outreach to our community, or a witness to our families.
“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.” Ephesians 4:11-12
Remember earlier when I mentioned my observation that the churches that were service-minded seemed to be the most vibrant? Well, I think this verse supports that. Pastors who equip the saints for works of service, NOT in a works-righteousness legalistic sense, but for the purpose of building up the body of Christ, will see church growth not only spiritually but in numbers.
As members of Christ’s church, we are responsible for walking in the works God has pre-ordained for us to do. The church is our training ground for Heaven, where we will serve Christ for all eternity in Glory. If we are not willing to serve within our church community throughout the week or even Sunday, how should we expect to serve God for eternity?!
As we saw earlier, the spiritual gifts list is extensive, with each category possibly leading into subcategories within that heading. In other words, there is no shortage of ways to serve within your church. You might say, “But all the areas of service positions are filled already. There is nothing left for me to do.” Serving in the church doesn’t mean you fill open positions. Service within the church is about relationships, loving, caring, compassion, helping, and praying.
Again, it would be impossible to list all the examples of how to serve your church. BUT if we don’t overthink how to serve, we will see many ways to offer service to others within the church. Most especially, PRAY. Ask the Lord to show you your gifts and how to use them in your church. As you seek out areas of service, you will begin training yourself in more and more ways to serve actively. When we look at service to the church through an eternal lens, we will see it as a training ground for Heaven where one day we will be in the presence of Almighty God and He will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant”.
Father, give me insight into my spiritual gifts. Show me how I can serve you within my home church. In Jesus' Name, Amen
Is there an area of service in your church you have felt God pulling you toward?
What will you do to begin walking in that area of service?
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Karen Del Tatto is a blogger, author, women's ministry leader, pastor's wife, mom, and grandmother who is passionate about the Word of God. Her blog Growing Together in Grace and Knowledge and her books Choosing to Trust God: Breaking the Habit of Worry, A 30-Day Devotional and Choosing to Trust God Companion Journal reveal her heart for providing Biblical insights to encourage women to grow in and through their struggles while equipping them to overcome. Karen and her husband live in Rhode Island and enjoy walks in the woods, owling, and spending time with their grandchildren.