For
God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel
of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my
prayers, making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a
way in the will of God to come to you. (Romans 01:09-10, NKJV).
Two
things can immediately come to mind when confronted by the words,
spiritual and service.
We
often think that “spiritual” is almost equivalent to unreal, and
“service” is almost synonymous (means the same as) tedious work,
but while our thinking is very useful, it is sometimes dead wrong; in
this instance especially.
From
a Biblical perspective, and therefore from the perspective of what is
actually true, the spiritual realm is truer, more solid, and more
real than what we see, hear, feel and touch in this world. The
problem is that we tend to experience life mostly from our physical
senses, which barely give a hint of the underlying truth of things.
I
am pretty sure that we lost the capacity to live otherwise in Eden
when our First Parents fell into rebellion and sin. Not only did that
loss cause all the sin and death since, but it made us all mostly
blind and deaf to the realm from which physical reality springs.
Oh
there are remnants of that level of perception; hints left to us in
distorted legends and myths, and even some glimpses into the
spiritual underpinnings of things by people with so-called “psychic”
abilities, but unless specifically empowered by God, these visions
and glimpses are full of distortions and misperceptions.
But
that most certainly does not mean that the spiritual realm doesn't
exist, just that our perception of it is blocked by the Fall.
You
see, the Bible teaches that humankind consists of not just the
material body, but the immaterial soul, as well. In fact, it is the
soul (the seat of our will, personhood, and emotions) that survives
the death of our bodies in this age. And it is the soul that will
receive our new glorified and incorruptible bodies at Christ's
return.
Many
in the world believe that this is just crazy talk, but unless people
know the truth as revealed in Scripture, their opinions about things
are mostly mistaken.
Remember
if something is true, our feelings and opinions about it are utterly
irrelevant. It is true whether we like it or not. It is true whether
or not it meets our puny expectations of what reality should be all
about. It is true simply because it is.
This
viewpoint, by the way, the idea that truth exists regardless of how
we chose to perceive or feel about it, is called Absolutism, which is
the opposite of a truly crazy idea called, Relativism.
Now,
Relativists believe that nothing is absolutely true (except, of
course that statement,
which is why Relativism is “self-defeating”, for if nothing is
absolutely true, then neither is Relativism). Adherents (those who
hold – adhere – to something) of Relativism dismiss uncomfortable
aspects of true reality with the formula, “well, that may be true
for you, but not for me,” and by so doing relegate all truth to an
elevated kind of preference.
This
works quite nicely as a “head in the sand” tactic, until you run
head-on into an inconveniently undeniable aspect of life in this
world, like gravity, or navigational coordinates, or bodily needs
like hunger and thirst. No amount of positive feeling will keep you
aloft if you step off the edge of a canyon, get your plane to Rome if
it's headed to Antarctica, or slake your thirst if stuck in an arid
desert.
All
this to emphasize that the spiritual realm, that part of Existence
that underpins the material, is real and true, and by definition,
eternal, for something that is immaterial cannot be subject to
material decay or degradation.
So,
how does this relate to “spiritual service”? And where do we go
wrong in our idea that service equates to tedium (Latin for boring).
Here's
the thing: since anything done “in the spirit” is even more
substantial and long-lasting (though in ways we can't see and must
often be taken “by faith”) than things done “in the material”,
or as the Bible says, “in the flesh”, then in a very real sense,
it is worth more in absolute value.
A
case in point: evangelism (telling someone about the gospel of
Christ, so that they understand that their automatic death sentence
of eternal punishment can be forgiven through faith in Jesus'
sacrifice on the Cross) is a spiritual service that can result in
that person living forever in Heaven, and never having to feel
weakness, nor pain, nor sorrow ever again.
Compared
to, let's say, feeding that person, or binding his or her wounds -
while important and praiseworthy and something that should be
undertaken with commitment and enthusiasm – is only temporary. It
meets the material needs of the moment, but leaves the eternal need
of salvation unaddressed.
And
in regard to the mistaken idea that service, or serving someone, is
tedious, think about this: what would bring more satisfaction and
joy, helping someone knowing that whatever you did was only a
temporary good, or helping someone to achieve an unimaginably good
destiny that you knew with all your heart would last forever?
Two
final points to consider.
As
Christians, our service to others must mean something, that is, if
they are hungry we are to feed them. If thirsty, we should give them
a drink. In fact, Romans later on will say that we are to do
those very things even to our worst enemies. So the idea that if
someone we meet is in some kind of physical need and all we do is
speak to them about being warm or fed in the name of Christ, our
words are empty and meaningless and a reproach (an insult) to our
Lord.
We
must first help them physically before we provide spiritual
assistance.
And
finally, true spiritual service is not only satisfying, fulfilling a
soul-deep need in ourselves by helping someone else, but the rewards
we receive from Christ in return are beyond imagining, for He says
this in Luke:
“But
love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return;
and your reward will be great, and you will be sons [and daughters]
of the Most High... (Luke 6:35, NKJV).
Love,
Dad
