No matter what life has thrown at you, no matter where you live and where you’ve been, no matter how you feel about yourself, no matter who has said what about you, no matter why you clicked on a link that brought you here…

Your life is a ministry. Or in other words, you are one that serves.

Now you could be self-serving, always looking out for number one, making sure you look good in all situations and only thinking about others in ways that benefit yourself. Or you could be more other-centered in your serving. Maybe you often put others first, you take care of their needs before your own and think of how your own actions and words impact others. If you are a Christian, in my opinion you don’t have a choice in this anymore. Not because God forces you to be selfless but because Jesus was the ultimate example in how to put the needs of others ahead of our own.

I’m going to assume most of you agree with that last paragraph. Sure we may define things differently and it would be great to discuss the ideas and see where we land. But I just want to encourage you, because when you serve others you open yourself up to quite a few negative things.

People may talk about how you are just serving others to feel good about yourself.

Some may complain that you aren’t serving with the upmost efficiency.

A few may be jealous, a few may be offended and others may just complain.

I’m sure Billy Graham had people like that in his life. I’m sure Mother Theresa had detractors and doubters. In no way am I comparing us to them but doesn’t it help us to know that people complained about these two great people.

In fact,

I imagine right after Jesus fed the 5,000…

There was a lady there complaining about the fish being cold.

There was a man upset because he knew a better way of distributing the bread.

There was a leader type writing on a scroll. Dreaming how the next time with the right publicity and planning there could be 10,000, dreaming how his synagogue could benefit.

There was a married couple who were upset because Jesus hasn’t spent enough time with their kid.

There were those who thought it took too long waiting for the food.

There were a few who thought Jesus should have said more about sin.

There were religious people with lots of titles who knew they could do the whole thing better.

And then there were those who were thankful, ate what was given and told others about that day for the rest of their lives.

Your life is a ministry, it’s up to you to decide who it serves. Its also up to you to be determined that no amount of complaining from some will stop you from reaching those who need God’s love the most.

Ministry (life) is messy, don’t give up.

Written by Tom Wise © Finding Wonder 2013