Dear younger me,
Having just entered youth, you would have been wowed by the new environment that you find yourself in. You will have made new friends, and gotten to know Teenacity as a whole lot better. Somewhere down the road, people will ask you about serving in church. You will have an admittedly naive idea of what this means. You think that serving means being involved in some way with the running of the service itself, such as preaching or leading others in worship. Today, after serving in the worship ministry for a long time, I would like to share with you my experiences serving in church, so that you can have a better understanding of what you’re getting into.
1. What is service?
While being a pastor or a worship leader is certainly one way to serve God, that's not all there is to serving. Romans 6:13 tells us:
“Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.”
This means that serving God is to show others that you belong to Jesus Christ. You don’t have to be a worship leader or a pastor to serve God, all you need is to respond to the salvation that Jesus has brought into your life.
2. Why should I serve?
Right now, you’re probably thinking that serving sounds pretty boring, and not really worth your time. After all, you like to sit around at home and play games all day (you still do btw). To be honest, you started serving because you could play an instrument decently and perhaps “more importantly”, you thought it was cool, especially since you started serving earlier than your peers. You like the glamour and attention that being on stage in front of others brought, and treated service more like a performance. Obviously that’s not why you should serve.
But as disciples of Christ, you should obey God’s commands for us to serve Him faithfully. By serving, you are able to deepen your relationship with God. However, this does not mean that you will not face challenges along the way. There were times where my instrument-playing wasn’t good enough or I was unable to cope with the added workload, but I trusted in God to help me pull through those seasons. God humbled me and reminded me that ultimately, He was my provider and that I could draw strength from Him.
Practically, you can’t rely on “the older ones” to do everything forever. Some people go overseas to study, some embark on a 2-year fitness plan endorsed by the government, others need to start “adulting”. The people currently serving in Teenacity will not always be around, and there is a need for people to step up to learn from them and take over the work that they do.
For a more fleshed out argument on why you should serve, check out Pastor Keet Keong’s sermon on the 11 July 2020 - you can find it on the TBC Teenacity youtube channel.
3. What can I do to serve God?
After establishing why service is good, let's talk about the how. You must first understand that God created everyone differently. 1 Corinthians 12: 8-10 depicts the spiritual gifts that God gives, namely the gift of wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, distinguishing between spirits, speaking in tongues and interpreting tongues. While we may not certain gifts may not be as obviously seen today today, this passage makes it clear that God gives each and every person different skills to serve Him. To some, He gave the ability to sing, to others, the ability to take nice pictures during youth camp so that you can repost them on Instagram. After you go through Servant Leader Training, you should have a general idea of what your spiritual gifts are. Learning more about what your gifts are merely act as an indicator of your strengths, and will not be the ultimate decider of how you will serve.
In Teenacity, there are 4 service areas: Worship, WOAH, DGL, and Creative Design - each fulfil a different role. In the worship ministry, I use the musical talents that God gave me to help lead the congregation in praise. But serving isn’t only within the confines of the Bible church. In our day to day life, you can serve God too! Even showing love to your friends and being obedient to our parents can be counted as service.
4. Dos and Don’ts
There are several pitfalls to avoid when you serve in church. For one, it is easy to think that one ministry is better or more important than another. I used to think that worship was the superior ministry, after all we’re the ones at the front, so worship must be better, right? No. You must keep in mind that everyone is a part of the body of Christ, and no one serves God better or is more important than another. In God’s eyes, everyone is equal.
Additionally, make sure that your focus is on God when serving so that you do not fall into the habit of just getting things over and done with. I have made the mistake of not always putting in my 100% for God, or thinking more about how serving will affect me rather than how it glorifies God – at that point I forgot why I even started serving in the first place. Eventually, I took a break to spend some time away from serving in church, allowing me to reflect on my service journey in Teenacity. When you serve without God in mind, you no longer serve God, instead you chase your own earthly desires.
5. The Epilogue
I want to remind you of the great commission that Jesus set out for all Christians, to go forth and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28: 19). Through your service to God, you display His redeeming power in the hopes of bringing others closer to Christ.
With Love: Noah