Don’t Serve God

A few years ago I picked up John Piper’s book Brothers, We are not Professionals and read it. It was good, but as a student pastor it didn’t grab me. Now, as a lead pastor I thought I would pick it back up and read through it again. It is broken up into 30 short chapters. I’m going to try to read a chapter a day and share some thoughts on that chapter as it pertains to leadership and pastoring (if anything jumps out).

Piper starts by saying, “The aim of this book is to spread a radical, pastoral passion for the supremacy and centrality of the crucified and risen God-Man, Jesus Christ, in every sphere of life and ministry and culture.”

The reality though is that many of the things God calls pastors to be, he calls all Christians to be, so this is not just a call to pastors and leaders, but to all followers of Jesus.

Recently, I’ve been on a journey to really discover all that God has called me to and understand what a pastor is, how that works in daily life and to fulfill to the best of my ability God’s call on my life. That’s where this series of posts is coming from.

Don’t Serve God

This by far is the most intriguing chapter title I may have ever come across in a book. Piper starts by saying, “The difference between Uncle Sam and Jesus Christ is that Uncle Sam won’t enlist you in his service unless you are healthy and Jesus won’t enlist you unless you are sick…What is God looking for in the world? Assistants? No. The gospel is not a help wanted ad. It is a help available ad. God is not looking for people to work for Him but people who let Him work mightily in and through them.”

I think (and Piper concurs) that it is possible to serve God in the wrong way, with the wrong motives. Does it matter as long as you serve God? I think it does. I think why we do something is just as, if not more important, than doing something.

Piper said, “If we are going to serve God and not money (Matthew 6:24), then we are going to have to open our eyes to the vastly superior happiness which God offers. Then God will exert a greater control over us than money does. We will serve by believing His promise of fullest joy and walking by that faith. We will not serve by trying to put our power at His disposal for His good, but by doing what is necessary so that His power will be ever at our disposal for our good.”

This means obedience.

The only way that we can serve God (rightly) is if all the glory goes to God. Which is difficult for us.

The point?

Until we understand that when we serve God, all the glory must go to Him, we will serve God for our own ends, to further our glory. Until we understand why we are serving God, Piper would say, “Wait.”

It gets at why we do something.

I’m not sure how this sits with me. Shouldn’t we tell people to serve God and let God sort it out? Does it matter why we do something? Can’t God get glory regardless of the attitude of the person doing the serving?