Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life

Service, like evangelism, is a discipline that some Christians would rather avoid. Whitney admits that, in large part, service ends up being mundane, even tedious. It necessarily involves the sacrifice of one’s time and labor, and it usually puts people in the position of doing unnoticed and unglamorous work. In a church context, it can include tasks such as volunteering in the nursery or running sound equipment for a service; more broadly, it can encompass almost any act done for the good of another and for the glory of God.

Whitney points out that this discipline is expected: Scripture commands Christians to serve the Lord. However, such service is not simply a matter of drudgery and obligation; Whitney also points out that people are empowered to serve through several strong motivations. For example, Christians should be motivated by obedience to God’s will. He draws an anecdote from the 18th-century pastor John Newton, who says that if two angels were given the tasks of either ruling a vast kingdom or sweeping streets, they would not care which of the tasks they received because the joy in each task was obedience to God’s command.