All Christians are called to love our neighbor.

“Love God, and love your neighbor.”

A key way for us to take loving action is through acts of compassion in the world. Through the spiritual discipline of “service.” But this isn’t the same as volunteering for a local charity. Even though volunteering for a local charity can be part of a discipline of service. If this is confusing, well, welcome to my world.

When is service a discipline, when is it a Christian response, and when is it just doing good for the sake of another person, whether you are Christian or not? Let’s break these down.

People serving people- God is the source of all good, so when people who don’t follow Jesus serve, they do so within God’s realm. Human conscience alone will lift up many opportunities to serve.

Followers of Jesus following the example of Jesus- When we follow Jesus and learn from him, we become the kind of people who serve others naturally as a response to the love we are given by him.

Service as a discipline- Intentional acts of service, focused areas of service, hidden acts of service, are all specific ways to be expanded by the Holy Spirit and be more open to God’s power being an influence in the world.

When someone joins the armed forces, we say they are “in the service.” When they are discharged or retired, it is called, “getting out.” Well, when we join Jesus in the greatest mission of the galaxies, to be used by him to expand his Kingdom, we are “in the service” for eternity. We never “get out.”

How has serving expanded you?