God at the Center of Service
God at the Center of Service
Much can be said about service. Yet among the most important things that must be said is the central place of God in service:
God is the reason for service, the One who calls to it, the One who works in it, and the One who is its ultimate goal and purpose.
We say this because many servants speak about many subjects—everything except God.
You do not see God in their words. They do not bring God into your heart, nor into your love, nor into your thoughts, nor into your life.
Their speech is merely information that increases knowledge—but not knowledge of God, not theology, not a relationship with Him. They may speak about virtues, history, famous figures, doctrine, or liturgy, yet God Himself does not clearly appear in all of this.
Here we would like to present a few important observations.
1. Service Is an Act of God’s Humility
God is fully able to do everything by Himself.
He can turn the entire world into saints.
He can manage all aspects of service without you or me, without needing anyone.
By His Holy Spirit, He can change hearts and lead sinners to repentance.
Yet, in His humility, He chose to involve us in His work.
He brought us into fellowship with the Holy Spirit, to work through us, with us, and in us, granting us a share with Him in service. We walk in service with the Spirit of the Lord—He does everything and attributes it to us!
After all this, how can we forget God in service? Is this fitting?
More astonishing still is when someone uses service to build himself—when self replaces God.
Service is distorted into a means of building personal status, reputation, authority, or a personal ideology and following.
Thus service may fall into conflicts and divisions.
Paul and Apollos appear, and the self stands at the center of service, asking:
What is my position? What are my rights and my dignity?
All effort then revolves around the self, and the name of God disappears—though God is the foundation of everything.
2. God Is the One Who Calls to Service
The Lord Jesus Christ said to His disciples:
“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit” (John 15:16).
And Scripture says: “Whom He foreknew, He also predestined” (Romans 8:29).
God is the One who calls, chooses, and appoints:
“No one takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was” (Hebrews 5:4).
This applies to the priesthood and to all servants alike—whether the Twelve, the Seventy (Luke 10:1), or others.
Christ says to the Father: “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world” (John 17:18).
Service, therefore, is a mission sent by God.
It is His vineyard, and He appoints stewards in it to work under His supervision.
How then can we serve without God being the foundation of everything?
3. God Is the One Who Speaks in Service
No one should speak in service from himself. Even Balaam said:
“The word that God puts in my mouth, that I must speak” (Numbers 22:38).
The servant speaks what God places in his mouth.
He receives from God in order to deliver to the people.
He is a messenger of divine truth—a speaker of divine things.
We repeatedly read in Leviticus:
“The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the children of Israel…” (Leviticus 1:1–2; 4:1–2; 7:28–29; 11:1–2).
Moses took from God and spoke to the people.
Though Moses said, “I am slow of speech and slow of tongue,” God replied:
“I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say” (Exodus 4:10–12).
Christ likewise said to His disciples:
“It is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you” (Matthew 10:20).
Even the Apostle Paul—despite all his gifts—asked the Ephesians to pray for him, saying:
“That utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly” (Ephesians 6:19).
Is this not a lesson for us?
Do you pray that God may give you the word, rather than relying on intelligence, information, or experience?
“For the Lord gives the word; great is the company of those who proclaim it” (Psalm 68:11).
If you have not received from God, it is dangerous to speak—dangerous to fill minds with merely human wisdom rather than God’s word (1 Corinthians 2:4).
Pour yourself out before God before serving, so He may give you the word that truly benefits others.
4. God Is the One Who Gives Power and Effectiveness
Christ commanded His disciples not to leave Jerusalem until they were “endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). He explained: “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8).
They served only through this power. If you have not received power from the Holy Spirit, by what strength can you serve?
Preparing Servants
Many prepare servants through curricula, lessons in Scripture, history, doctrine, liturgy, and practical training.
All of this is beneficial—but it is not everything, nor is it first.
What is essential is spiritual preparation, where the servant is filled with the Spirit of God, receiving from Him not only words, but power, spirit, influence, and deep love for those being served.
Peter’s sermon on Pentecost pierced hearts, and three thousand believed and were baptized (Acts 2:37–41).
This was not ordinary speech—it carried spirit, power, and the ability to act.
There is a difference between words that convince yet leave one powerless, and words that give both conviction and strength.
Preparing a lesson, therefore, is preparing yourself spiritually—so grace fills your heart and accompanies your words with power and influence. God enters with you into the service, speaks through you, and works in hearts and ears.
Listeners feel that God was present.
The True Servant: A God-Bearer
The true servant is a God-bearer (Theophoros), like Saint Ignatius of Antioch—carrying God wherever he goes and offering others the sweetness of communion with Him: “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8).
Thus, there is a difference between teaching and service.
Teaching transmits information to the mind.
Service leads people to God through a spiritual person who gives spirit, love, and divine life.
Many teach, but do not serve.
Many possess information—but service is spirit transferred, love ignited, and hearts drawn to God.
God trains His servants in love, for love is essential to service. Without it, service becomes mere activity.
If you have not reached this love, you are not yet prepared for service.
Service Is Not Mere Knowledge
Knowledge alone was humanity’s first downfall (Genesis 3).
True knowledge is knowing God:
“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God” (John 17:3).
Knowledge without God produces scholars, not saints.
True service moves from information → ethics → spirituality → divine life.
Ask yourself:
- Do you connect people to ideas, to society, to yourself—or to God?
- Do you teach good behavior, or train for holiness and communion with God?
This applies not only to church servants, but also to parents at home.
Teaching with God at the Center
- Scripture: Is it mere history, or the story of God’s love and action?
- Sin and repentance: Are they moral concepts, or separation from and return to God?
- Saints’ lives: Are they biographies, or the story of God working in human hearts?
- Eternal life: Is it a place, or eternal communion with God Himself?
- Doctrine and liturgy: Are they dry facts, or living encounters with God?
Service must always lead to God.
The Vision of the Lampstands
God stands in the midst of the seven golden lampstands—the churches—and holds the stars (the servants) in His right hand (Revelation 1:20; 2:1).
The light comes from Him.
The servants move by His hand.
If a servant is in God’s right hand, he cannot stray.
Preparation for service is placing servants in God’s hand—soft clay in the hands of the Divine Potter (Romans 9:21).
Conclusion
True service is grace from God working through one person for another, binding both to God.
Those who become busy with service yet forget God have misunderstood service.
Service is not activity, information, or self-fulfillment—it is communion, love, and divine life.
When God is the lesson and God is the Teacher, service becomes life-giving, transformative, and eternal.
