Roy Brown was one of the elders at Country Bible Church when I was called to be their pastor back in 1991. He used to say, “You were saved to serve.” He expected everyone to pitch in and share the responsibilities of the church. The Bible also says you were “created” to serve. Ephesians 2:10 says “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” I don’t think we can realize any full meaning or purpose in life without serving others. That’s one of our divinely given purposes in life.
Colonel Irwin, one of the first astronauts said some neat things about this. He realized that as a result of his unique mission many would consider him a “superstar”, for sure an international celebrity. Humbled by the awesome goodness of God, he shared his true feelings, which went something like this: “As I was returning to Earth, I realized that I was a servant –not a celebrity. So I am here, as God’s servant on planet Earth to share what I have experienced that others might know the glory of God.”
Luther E. Smith, a Theology Professor, had this to say in a speech to students about living honestly. “Faking it for a class session is one thing. But it’s so easy to find ourselves making ‘faking it’ a lifestyle. We fake it with others. We fake it with ourselves. We fake it with God. This summer I saw a bumper sticker that said: ‘Jesus is coming. Look busy!'”