The Danger of Saying, “I’m Too Busy to Serve in the Church”

You’ve heard the statistic quoted many times, “Twenty percent of the people in the church do eighty percent of the work.” I don’t know if anyone has actually done the calculations on this, or if it could even be done, but I suspect the old maxim holds true. It is not my purpose to debate the actual numbers, because I think most of us understand well enough that a handful in any given church are carrying the majority of the ministry and service load. Why is this the case?

No one I know comes right out and declares, “I just don’t care about the ministries of the church, so I don’t serve.” Usually the response is more like, “I am too busy to serve in the church right now.” Trust me, I get that! Most of us are extremely busy. We work full-time, shuttle kids back and forth to practice and games, look in on elderly parents, try to get a little housework in here and there, and so on. Yep, all this adds up to a busy life. However, here is the thing most people do not consider: The “twenty percent” are busy people too. Andy Stanley makes the point rather well, “Too busy to serve at your local church? FYI: Every Sunday you attend your local church you are served by very busy people. Get involved!”

Well, the truth is we all know that Christians ought to be serving in the ministries of the church in some way. The Apostle Paul told Timothy not to neglect the gift he had (1 Tim. 4:14), and just to be clear, all Christians have been given a gift with which they can serve. In his letter to the early Christians, the Apostle Peter said, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace...in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:10-11). We can safely say that not serving God and His church displeases God and certainly does not bring Him glory.

As a pastor, I sometimes feel the urge to try to do everything myself so I don’t have to plead with people to come on board and serve. While this may seem to be the easier model (until burnout sets in), it is not the biblical model. The Apostle Paul made this point quite clear in Ephesians 4:11-12 when he wrote, “And [Christ] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” Easy or not, a pastor’s calling includes “equipping the saints for the work of ministry.” That will never be a simple task, but it is one to which I must be faithful.

Some time ago, Bill Hybels famously quipped that because the church is called to “steward the transforming message of Christ” we can rightly say that “the local church is the hope of the world.” The church is neither a country club nor the Rotary Club. The local church is in the business of worshiping and evangelizing and discipling and serving. What is missing right now is the “eighty percent” who are bringing no glory to their Lord because they are “too busy to serve the church.” Perhaps it is time to reevaluate your schedule (or your children’s schedule) in order to be intentional about serving. Health and extenuating circumstances aside, a Christian who does not serve in the ministries of the church is not a spiritually healthy Christian. Consider your part in helping the local church truly be “the hope of the world.”

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