"You're too young..." Most teens hear these words quite often. "You're too young too drive," "You're too young to drink," "You're to young to have a job,"etc. But there is one thing that a young person is never too young to do—serve!
Have you ever felt like you were too young to serve? Do you ever feel that you have no important part in the Church? Do you think of adults as the only people who serve at Church? Regrettably, some young people feel this way.
Jesus Christ said that He came so that His followers (of all ages) "may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). Christ's followers are to live full and abundant lives. Does serving have anything to do with living this "abundant life"? The answer is a resounding "Yes!"
Love = service to others. The key to understanding how to live the "abundant life" is knowing the two great commandments—"love the LORD your God" and "love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37-39). These two laws (which sum up God's Ten Commandments) are the backbone of true Christian living.
But how do these laws transfer into an abundant way of life? The basic answer is that God's laws equal love. Love, in turn, means that we are focused on others more than ourselves. To do this, we must have the heart of a servant—focusing on raising others to their highest potential and making life easier and more pleasant for them. This way of living has been described as the way of "give" versus "get." God created us and knows that His way will truly make us happy and fulfilled now, and will have never-ending rewards in the future.
With these principles in mind, we could define service as: Giving your time and energy to God by helping and caring for others out of genuine love and concern for them.
How young people can serve. But how can a young person serve? Should we go out and join the Peace Corps or move to Calcutta and feed starving children?
We find the answer in Galatians 6:10: "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith." A Christian's main area of concern should be serving within the Church. Though it is commendable to get involved with serving the world in various ways, our energies should first be focused on helping and serving those whom God has called to be firstfruits in this age. Christ tells us that Christians will be judged on how they served His "brethren" (Matthew 25:40). In Matthew 12:48-50, we see that Christ's brethren are those who obey God.
Many congregations find the average age of their membership rising. This means that service opportunities definitely exist for the younger generation! So how can young people prepare to serve?
1. See God's Church for what it is. There may be some who think of the Church as a social club—a place to have fun and hang out with their friends. They don't see it as much more than an activity center.
While Church activities are a wonderful blessing, we must not think of the Church as merely a place to attend activities. Those who see the Church as merely a social club may end up leaving the Church when they are older or when the activities decrease. So what is the Church?
2. The Church is an organization of people. Since God doesn't supernaturally do every job within the Church, He works through physical human beings. God provides the instructions and the help but lets the people do the work! The apostle Paul referred to members in the Philippian congregation as those who "labored" and "fellow workers" (Philippians 4:3).
Some young people may think they are too young to do physical service for the Church. This is understandable—but definitely not true! All through the Bible we see examples of young people serving God in various ways.
3. Ask to serve! If you have a desire to be more involved in the Church, the first step is to ask for a responsibility. Tell your pastor that you would like to become more actively involved at Church and ask for an opportunity to serve. Most pastors will be happy to find something for you to do.
In my local congregation, I started serving on our local audiovisual crew when I was about 16 and am now responsible for the video recording of church services at our congregation. Other young people take care of the stage setup. They are at services early every week to do that.
4. Service isn't for status. Some people may think that you need a "position" or "title" to serve. If we serve just to get "status" or a "title," then we are serving with the wrong attitude.
This was a shortcoming of the Zebedee family. Mrs. Zebedee asked that her sons (James and John) have official positions at Christ's right and left hand in the Kingdom (Matthew 20:21). Christ corrected them saying, "The rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them ... Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant" (verses 25-26). Jesus does not say it is wrong to "desire to be great." He tells us that greatness is measured by how we serve.
5. Service is rewarding. Some think of service as something they have to do, so they help others grudgingly. If we are truly service-minded people, this won't be our attitude.
People who have served others know that serving gives a fulfillment that can rarely be experienced anywhere else. Teens and young adults who serve as staff at preteen camps experience this firsthand as they talk to the kids on their level, escort children to the bathroom in the middle of the night or even clean up the mess of a sick camper. Although these things aren't typically described as fun, the staff comes back year after year! VT
