Study of Judas: serving God

Serving God is an act of worship. It’s our response to His love that He first gave us. But as we see in Judas, while he appeared very sacrificially devoted to Jesus, He was not the object of his affection.

Continuing our Lukewarm Church series, we’ll see how serving God doesn’t mean you love Him. 

If we attempt to serve God or others from an earthly love, we end up making it about ourselves. There’s a conditional and transactional component to it. Our heart is motivated to gain some type of benefit that we will ultimately be pleased with.

When we please God, we don’t always feel good about it. And sometimes God asks us to do difficult things that we may never see the benefit of or receive any gain on earth for. If our motivation for doing this is to please and glorify God, then whether or not we receive anything out of it won’t matter. Afterall, if the object of our devotion to Him is to give Him glory, then we will be satisfied with just that. We’ve done what we set out to do: please God.

Before we go further, let’s break down what it means to serve. So often we give of ourselves in one way or another and never stop to reflect on what our motivations are. When you serve, you’re a part of something else which gives something for someone to accomplish something. Let’s break it down.

What are you a part of?

As a Christian, ‘what you’re a part of’ is God’s kingdom. And His mission for Christians, as His servants, is to bring the gospel to every nation. Jesus came down to earth not only to bring about the gift of Salvation, but to start a chain reaction. And that chain reaction starts with Him. As God loves Jesus, He wanted us to join in on that love.

God didn’t intend for us to live a comfortable life to merely revel in our confidence of assurance in one day being whole in Heaven, but to let that revelation ignite a fire in our hearts that can’t help but extend to others. 

What are you giving?

As Jesus, we give of ourselves. And since it’s organic, serving isn’t something you do separate from your life, it’s embedded into it.

God calls each of us to a unique calling and ministry. He made me the youngest of four with two wonderful parents. He gave me my amazing husband, Sunny and his wonderful family that I’m now a part of. He also uses negative experiences in my life too. Hardships I’ve experienced, relationships I’ve learned from, internal wars I’ve battled, all uniquely made me who I am today. 

The point is, my life is different than anyone else's. Which means I have a distinct way in which I can be used by God. What we have to give will be different for everyone. But in whatever God does call us into, we respond to His loving grace by being faithfully obedient in that.

Who are you serving?

God tells us specifically who we are to serve: our neighbor. Our neighbor is anyone who is in our sphere of influence in our life. 

The people I pass by at the grocery store are in my sphere of influence. I’m not living in Switzerland, on my way to eat the most deliciously fresh cheese. Although that sounds pretty amazing. I’m going to my local grocery in Seattle, WA for fresh fish instead. God put me right where I am, next to the people around me for a reason. 

It may mean loving people who may be unlovable in some way or who have hurt us. We may be uncomfortable or have to give something up that we really wanted. 

Important distinction is that God doesn’t ask you to get walked over, that doesn’t glorify Him at all. And the church has many times greatly abused the meaning of being the ‘hands and feet of Jesus’ in the name of enabling abusive behavior. I could go on, but that is a much longer topic than this blog can manage. 

What do you accomplish?

What you accomplish depends on who you’re doing it for. If you’re doing this for God, you serve out of worship to God, giving Him all the glory. We accomplish what God would have us accomplish. 

This is so much bigger than us. We often live in an obstructed view of life, not able to think outside of ourselves and our own experience. What we are a part of as Christians, is God’s mission to reconcile those to Himself. And we get to be a part of that. 

Self-glorifying service

When you serve others out of your own personal desire, while you may be doing it in the name of God, you won’t really be doing it for Him and your true intentions will eventually reveal itself. 

If you’re doing it for yourself, you usually expect something in return. Their appreciation, a return service, perhaps in equal value, respect, validation or approval.

You may have good intentions along with selfish ones, but they are either for God or not. A way that your true intentions seep out is how you treat others. When you think you’re owed something you’re not doing it out of a love for God. In our self-glorifying service we’ve tainted a good thing from God to an evil and selfish thing. 

Joys of serving

Of course Jesus is the greatest example of being a servant. On the night of His betrayal during the Last Supper, He washes the disciples feet. Though He knew He would be betrayed and abandoned by each of them the very next day, He served them.

This washing of feet symbolized how no one else had the power to cleanse away their sins. And as He stooped down to do what one of the lowest slaves would do, He loved them. He didn’t love them because of anything they did, each would later prove their loyalty through abandoning Him. 

He loved them when it wasn’t convenient for Him - which is an understatement. He was in mental anguish in preparation for the torture He knew He was facing the next day. And yet, He humbly served them despite what He was going through and despite how they would treat Him afterwards.

John 13:14, “ Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.” 

Now as Christians, we are called to do the same. I encourage you to reflect on the motivations of what you do. Does your love come with strings attached to it?