I recently have had a pretty significant shift in how I see my life and our church. I think it’s for the better. It started a few months ago while our church was doing a campus clean up for the recovering Morris Brown College. We had been talking about being a church that serves others, and we were finally doing it. My wife said something that confirmed and solidified things for me. She said, “We made service a verb, not just a noun.”  I have not been able to get over that simple yet profound statement, and it has continued to be a rallying cry for our ministry.

For many Christians and churches, service is a noun. Service is only something that is attended weekly to help us grow in our faith. Love Jesus, read your bible, don’t do bad things, and go to church service. These are good thing, but they must accompany action. 

The problem with service being a noun in the church context is that we have lost it as a verb, and in some instances the heart to love and help those around us. Service is vitally important in the lives of Jesus followers. Service is the out working of the Christian faith; it’s a proof of legitimate belief, not the only proof, but a proof. 

I am not saying that service is salvation. It should be what we do because we love God and love people. That is why Vertical Church is so focused on touching and impacting the campus and community. We want the outflow of our love relationship with Jesus to touch those who He loves. We love God, and we do good for others.

The word ministry means to service. In other countries, they understand this. In England the leader is called the Prime Minister, or the Head Servant. In this country, we have Christian “ministers”. Some are looking to be exalted and served rather than serving others. I think we have lost the connection between ministry and service.

The Bible teaches that we should be doers of God’s word and not just hearers. I think that service as a noun had trained us to be great hearers, but slow doers. I also believe that more people would be open to our faith if we were faster to serve. Let us not forget, that Jesus himself is our example. “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Mark 10:45 Service is and must remain a verb!