I think we get a major thing pretty backwards.
Usually, when we do some sort of service, we feel really good about it. We feel like we did God this huge favor, took time out of our lives, and so on. And then when we sin, we think, “I messed up, but no biggie. I’m pretty good otherwise.”
But the reality is that our service adds nothing that God can’t do himself. And our sin, every sin, is huge. Our sin is what makes us exactly imperfect in front of an exactly perfect God. It’s huge.
We tend to think our service is crucial and our sin is forgettable. But really our service is minuscule, and our sin is massive.
However, because God is God, God is love, and the love of God — all of God — is directed toward us in a way that works things together for our good. God has flipped the scales in our favor.
We have been given the free gift of God, Jesus’s righteousness counted as our righteousness. And God’s wisdom has created a way for our folly to favor the Church.
God has taken us from death to life, paid for our sin, our cosmic offense, and situated us in a spot where we can make a real difference in the lives of others. And he hasn’t done this in a generic way. He has done it in a way that differs from person to person. Where God has forgiven the sin of all of the body in the same way, he has also cast all of the body to play a role in a unique way. And each one of those unique ways is important.
God has made you unique, so your service matters.
That brings up a lot of questions. What if you don’t do anything? What if you do it wrong? What if you do it in the wrong place? What if you do it, but you don’t do enough? There are a lot of questions that come from the idea that we have responsibility. But let’s not jump past the fact that it’s a privilege to have responsibility in the first place. Sometimes we get so caught up in the details that we miss the opportunity. If God has called you to do something, do it, and figure out the details later.
Every time God has called someone to do something, he has given them exactly what they needed to do that thing.
So do that thing. Do the thing God has called you to do in your life. Walk in your gifts. Walk in your calling. And do it confidently. Do it knowing that the God who created the world and everything in it, the God who created you and knew you before you were ever born, the God who doesn’t need you, wants you to do it with him for his glory and for your good.