As a youth pastor, something deeply saddens me when I ask people to consider serving in youth group. It’s the response I usually get as to why someone can’t…
“I don’t have the time for that.”
At times, it seems I get this response more than a yes. This is what goes through my mind in response to theirs…
“Jesus has time to serve you, but you don’t have time to serve Him?”
To not display a lack of empathy, I will say that I do realize that sometimes it’s easier said than done. Life is complex and demanding. Schedules can fill up fast when work, a marriage, and kids are accounted for.
However, I hate to see that complexity negate our ability to serve.
Serving someone less than ourselves is to live and serve as Jesus did. He served all of humanity, yet it seems we struggle to serve one person less than ourselves. Jesus… the king of the world… the creator of it all… the being running the universe. He has time to serve us. But we won’t cut time out of our schedule to serve like Him.
I could see a response to this being…
“Casey, you only say this because you’re a youth pastor. You have a heart for the discipleship of teens and know they need adults to do so.”
I won’t deny that’s part of my sadness. I do think the modern church is too comfortable in not serving and doesn’t see the value in serving the young. HOWEVER, that’s not the biggest cause of sadness for me when it comes to serving, or lack thereof. What saddens me the most is that when we don’t prioritize serving like Jesus with our time, we miss out on a richer life.
- Side note: It also lets you live a longer and fuller life as recent studies from BMC Public Health found, people who volunteer have a 22% lower mortality rate than those who don’t. https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-13-773#:~:text=Meta%2Danalysis%20of%20five%20studies,ability%20or%20self%2Drated%20health.
Serving others should be our response to Jesus serving us. Look to Peter’s mother-in-law, for example:
Mark 1:30-31: Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.
Jesus heals her, and her response is to serve him. Jesus heals us of our sin, and our response should be to serve him. Our serving is for the Lord. Our time is the Lord’s. We should be using our time, even if it is a small amount, to serve the Lord.
I would encourage all of us to serve for a richer life!
-Pastor Casey
