Nate Palmer in his little book, Servanthood as Worship: The Privilege of Life in a Local Church makes a case for viewing service to others in the body of Christ as an indispensible part of the Christian life. It is demanding, rewarding, and God-glorifying. It is, as the title suggests, part of our worship of the living God. Palmer writes:
Often I prefer my own kingdom--the one where I am the object of worship and I get to define servanthood (usually as me serving me and others serving me). We always serve who we see as the king of our kingdom. That's why servanthood and worship are essentially the same thing.
Bu biblical service requires that we prefer others over ourselves, that we sacrifice willingly, giving time and energy that could have been used for personal benefit to benefit others. Biblical service calls us to direct our focus outward. In this we imitate Christ, who served others to the point of death. As I will emphasize throughout this book, serving God as a grateful response to the gospel is the calling of every Christian.
May God give us the grace we need to "direct our focus outward."
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