I am often surprised at how many churches—and individuals—operate without a budget. They simply put the money into a pot, spend it as they need to (or wish to) and hope it all works out. To me, this is a little bit like driving to a previously unvisited destination without consulting the map first!

Serving people necessitates giving of ourselves. Paul put it well in 2 Corinthians 12:15: “I will very gladly spend and be spent for you.” We are not infinite, however. Every expenditure must be replenished, or eventually we run dry.

Time after time in the Bible, we find God providing an abundant blessing for one of His servants, then immediately exhorting that servant to be a blessing to others and to glorify His name. We see this principle when God blessed Abraham, then immediately said, “Thou shalt be a blessing.”

Of course we all want every new believer to enroll in discipleship, but we also want to make sure they are committed to it. When a person who is not committed enrolls, it can cause the discipler to feel frustrated that he is being paired up with someone who does not want to put in the necessary work to finish what he started.

One aspect of the Lord Jesus Christ that no religious leader can ever hope to claim is that of His eternal and omnipotent power. “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”—Revelation 1:8

The following list will provide some practical reasons for serving. Keep in mind that this list is far from exhaustive, but provides some compelling motivations for serving our great God! Why, then, should I involve myself in the ministry?

You’ve heard it said: In life there are two groups of people—givers and takers. The titles are self explanatory: givers invest, and takers seek to be invested in. Every Christian should be a giver, but those in the ministry should especially be givers. We should be investing our lives in others.

If you serve on the support staff of your church, you play a critical role in the daily success of the ministry! Don’t forget as you are daily mired in details, questions, problems, lists and the needs of people, that you are helping your pastor do the work of the ministry.

William Ball was a constitutional lawyer in the early 70’s that stepped up to the plate for Christian schools in America. He fought cases all the way up to the U. S. Supreme Court. I was a “young buck” just coming out of college at the time, and somehow I ended up getting to have dinner with Mr. Ball. He said something rather profound.

The early life and ministry of Jesus Christ drew many followers. One might suppose that some of these were following because of His powerful miracles. Anyone who could turn water into wine by speaking a word (John 2) or cause a man to walk after thirty-eight years of being bed ridden (John 5) or feed five thousand with five loaves and two fish (John 6) was certainly worth a listen.