When we work, we’re imitating God Himself. And our work takes on the greatest significance when we work the way God does. God never worked for a paycheque. He didn’t work to “get ahead.” He didn’t work to prove His worth. God worked to display His glory and to bless His creation. When we make the world a more beautiful place through flowers, art, computer code, or physical labour, we glorify God and bless people.
This week I headed to Huntsville for the FEB Central Pastor’s Conference. Fellowship with other like-minded pastors from whom I have much to learn was a big part of the three days that I spent there. Suffering was a common thread in many of the messages. One spoke of how to deal with disappointment in our relationship with God. His ten-year-old son was hit by a car while delivering newspapers, and having faced such a loss he knew the limitation of superficial platitudes.
In the New Testament, next to Jesus, no one’s service stands out more than the apostle Paul. And yet he made a puzzling statement about serving God: The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. (Acts 17:24-25)
God doesn’t need anything and so there’s a sense in which no one could possibly serve Him. We don’t “help God out” by our service. If He could create the heavens with a word and part the Red Sea by His power, surely He doesn’t need our help to change diapers in the nursery. And yet the God who cannot be served, commands us to serve Him. What’s going on?
The plight of Syrian refugees has largely dropped out of the news cycle, but for most the painful road continues. On Friday evening, I attended “Faith Rising,” an event sponsored by Partners International, highlighting the work being done by Arab Christians to bring help and hope to those still trapped in refugee camps in Lebanon. While the protests of the Arab Spring in late 2010 and early 2011 seemed like they might freedom to many living under corrupt and oppressive dictatorships, in Syria they led to a civil war that has claimed nearly 200,000 lives.
