Article by Pastor John!
Dear Unified … family,
I am posting a great article by Pastor John which he wrote after he received a revelation on the value of serving. Please read it and take it to heart. Remember as Arthur Burk described, we are a mercy church on servant land! As we align ourselves to what the Lord has designed we set ourselves to be positioned towards fulfilling our destiny.
Blessings,
Dean
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Calvin Say, A Servant Attitude, and Real Promotion
Ephesians 2:22-23 states, “And he put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Jesus is Lord. I see him standing at the front of our church, ruling and reigning, taking his rightful place in the body. He is directing us to do something very special in this season.
I’ve never seen His leadership so clearly in all my years in Christian ministry. I’m excited and fearful all at the same time. God is speaking. We need to listen. What is he saying? God is calling us to a lifestyle of sacrificial, loving service. It’s not just mediocre service, but the radical, amazing grace kind. It’s another level of maturity. Please read on as I try to unpack this for us.
“Calvin Say was a busboy for twenty years at Flamingo Chuck Wagon while serving in The House of Representatives?” I have to admit this was impressive. Could I do this? Could we do this? To serve in a seat of power at The State Capitol and then clean tables at Chuck Wagon provides a powerful example of what it means to be a servant leader.
I saw an authority on this man that came from years of self sacrifice. He sign waves, canvasses door-to-door, works at the family business, works tirelessly to pass fair bills, and graciously receives criticism from both friend and foe. He forgives and continues to serve the state of Hawaii with a humility and wisdom not found today in the politicized atmosphere of modern day government. He has done this for 36 years. That’s amazing. God wants us to have the same amazing longevity and perseverance when it comes to having a servant heart.
God is highlighting this. His finger is pointing directly at our hearts. How do I know? He is using the teaching tool of repetition. First, God, through Arthur Burk, has made it very clear that our church resides on servant land. This means the ground we walk upon exudes loving service to our community, state, and one another; it exudes authority in the spiritual realm over the spirit of death and sickness; it exudes authority to shift governments and countries.
Since we prayed for and activated the ground of 1419 10th Avenue, the servant redemptive qualities of the land have been heightened. We now have the high privilege of walking in this amazing destiny and calling of our church. Actually, if I wanted to get real accurate, we now are walking in the destiny and calling of Christ. That’s real living. That’s real authority. Mark 10:45 states, “For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Second, God used Calvin Say, a politician, a Samaritan, to teach us, God’s chosen people, what it means to live like a Christian. You have to see the irony in this. Politicians are known for lying, stealing, hypocrisy, and using their position for self-serving purposes. Calvin Say was and is none of these things. His example of humble service challenged us all to rise to another level of service. God used a politician to set the servanthood bar for the people of God. He really did. God is amazing.
This made me ask the questions? Could I feel secure preaching a message from the pulpit on one weekend and at the same time park cars on another? Could I feel the joy of serving as a writer of articles in the morning and as Aimee’s teeth flosser in the evening? Could you serve in a ministry that you totally love and then serve in another that doesn’t fit your giftings and calling? Could we serve in children’s ministry? Could we help park cars? Could we just serve for the purpose of serving? The answer should be yes because servanthood is not a role or a duty, but a heart attitude. God is promoting hearts at this time. He really is.
Lastly, in our staff meeting we had to deal with the challenges of finding people willing to serve in various ministries of the church. It was a good discussion. It challenged us to work through these things as a team. I loved the free flow of thought and idea, but at a deeper level, God made it clear that he wanted the church to move into a higher level of maturity when it came to service. No one is exempt. Hearts are being revealed at this time. God used Calvin Say, the redemptive gift of our land, and the topic of ‘service’ in our staff meeting to repetitively ram home this message: we are called to be servants. God confirmed with three witnesses again.
A servant heart leads to promotion, protection and real power. God promotes humility (1 Peter 5:5-6). Servants naturally walk with this type of heart. They lean on the power of God for protection and are able to resist the attacks of the Devil effectively (1 Peter 5:5-11). Humble people ask for help, the prideful get smashed. A servant heart gushes forth with wisdom, authority and power (1 Peter 5:10, Mark 10:45,) Stephen the 1st century busboy moved in this type of authority (Acts 7).
Jesus said the greatest among you will be the servant (Luke 22:24-27). Unified…, God is calling us to serve one another with the right heart and attitude. It’s a call to real maturity (Phil 2:3-4). It’s not a shallow life of pleasing man, but a deep call to love one another (1 Corinthians 13).
If you see a need in the church, go and serve. It may not be in your area of gifting, but God will bless you with character development and intimacy with him. Remember this: God will reward character and not spiritual gifting (2 Pet 1:5-11). You may not even know your gifting or calling, but as you serve, God will bring more and more clarity in this area. Serve to see. Lastly, cross over from your ministry and help in another. Look at the church not as separate ministries, but as one, unified family.
Calvin Say ended his talk by saying that God took a busboy and made something special out of his life. As you walk with a servant heart, watch what God does with your life. It all starts with making the choice to humble yourself and serve.
Pastor John