Called to Serve

Unity is a pivotal component. When everyone agrees, the church sails smoothly; however, when there is a hint of disagreement, the waves become choppy, and the church loses sight of its true heading. This behavior is not new among humans, and regrettably, it occurred early in the church. We see the divide between the Hellenistic and the Hebrews in Acts chapter six. In modern terms, you might say the Pentecostals and Baptists were not in agreement, or the older generation and the younger ones, perhaps even the more conservative versus the liberal-leaning. Whatever the case, there will be times when two do not agree, leading to prejudice. I would like to focus our attention on how the church addressed this issue. They selected those who were "full of the Spirit” to serve. The weight of leadership can be crushing at times. That is why pastors are stepping away from the pulpit to seek secular jobs, but the Holy Spirit instructed that leaders in the congregation should step into this role to bear the weight so the pastors could devote themselves to study and prayer. We, as the Body of Christ, are part of one body, and our mission is our heading. Team building is not just a secular concept but is Divinely inspired. We are called to work together, and when disagreements arise, men and women who are full of the Spirit are called to create peace through serving—You are not serving the pastor or the church but Christ. Let us keep our eyes focused and our hearts broken for the lost. That is our Heavenly calling.   

Acts 6:1-4

Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food. So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Ac 6:3–4.

Pastor Benaiah Snider