Serve

Step number three is Service. Once a believer is actively involved in corporate worship (step one) and small group connection (step two), then he or she is ready to be plugged in to some kind of service in the body. God has revealed in His word that He gifts all believers with what we refer to as "spiritual gifts." These spiritual gifts are given by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of building up the body (see Eph. 4; Rom. 12; 1 Cor. 12). God intends for the church to be made up of all kinds of different people who are each gifted (by Him) in different ways. In doing this He makes two very important points: (1) no one of us is capable of accomplishing all that God intends alone & (2) in light of point number one, we desperately need each other. Service, therefore, is not just about doing something for God but rather doing something that God had gifted you to do in the body for the benefit of the body. In the passages mentioned above, Paul uses the physical body to illustrate the point. We need ears to hear, fingers to pick our noses that smell (come on, don't be so sensitive), eyes to see, legs to walk, arms to lift and support and on and on. We wouldn't get much hearing done if we were all eyes. We wouldn't get much lifting done if we were all noses. The point is pretty simple - we're all important and we can't afford for anyone not to use the gifts God has given them for the body's benefit.

This, of course, begs the questions, "How do you know what gifts God has given you" or "How do you know what part of the body you are?" I'm glad you asked. Unfortunately, many Christians have never asked themselves that question and, even more unfortunate, their spiritual leaders have never asked them either. In stead they ask people to do things that they are not gifted for and people end up burned out and out of sorts. If I were to ask you identify your primary spiritual gift, could you tell me? If your answer is Yes, could you tell me why? Meaning, could you take me to the scripture and walk me through how you came to that conclusion? If you can - AWESOME! If you couldn't answer Yes to either one of my questions then don't be discouraged. You are not alone. At Haven we can have a strategy that is prepared not only to ask those kinds of questions but also to help people discover, develop and use their spiritual gifts to the glory of God and the benefit of the body.

There are many different takes on how we, as believers, are to understand the Biblical passages that deal with our God given, spiritual gifts. In fact, some of these passages deal with certain gifts that cause for great debate within the body. That's okay. We can have hearty debates and go home brothers and sisters every time. What every local body has to determine is how they understand the gifts passages and as long as their understanding is consistent with the rest of scripture then they need to move forward on that basis. The first step towards knowing your spiritual gift is to search and wrestle with the scripture. One of the best tools (and there are many) for helping believers get a clear, basic understanding of spiritual gifts is the DVD series "Your Divine Design" by Chip Ingram (President of Walk Through the Bible Ministries and regular teacher for the radio program Living On The Edge). In this series, Chip gives a basic overview of each of the gifts passages and helps learners understand how they can understand each passage and discover what God has primarily gifted them to do within the body. The second step towards knowing your spiritual gift is to filter what you think about yourself through the eyes and wisdom of godly members of the body who know you. You say to them, "Hey I went through the spiritual gifts class and I think my primary gift is either teaching or exhorting. What do you think?" What you do is open yourself up to your own blind spots. You might think you are an exhorter when in reality you're just rude and speak when you should stay silent. Or you might think you're gifted to teach when in reality you just like to hear yourself talk. You won't know these things without opening yourself up to the body who loves and observes you. So before you can effectively serve in the body, you need to know how God has gifted (wired) you to serve. Once you know what your gift (or gifts) is, then you can begin to develop your gift in the context of service & community (not in individual isolation but within the framework of the body).

When a disciple begins to understand what it means to worship then they are ready to be plugged in to a connection group. Once that person understands who they are in the connection group we can begin to encourage them to take the next step towards service by helping them discover and develop their spiritual gifts. We do this because we need what God has designed and gifted them to do. You need me, I need you, we need them, they need us!

Step 1 - Worship
Step 2 - Connect
Step 3 - Serve