House elves are magical creatures J.K. Rowling brought to life in her book series about a boy with a lightning-shaped scar. They are essentially slaves, loyal creatures who are immensely devoted to serving one family for a large portion of their life. They feel their service is what they were created to do, therefore making it right and proper.
Local church bodies and ministries are supported by many so-called “house elves.” They come in the form of audio/video techs, hospitality volunteers, and facilities workers— the unseen force that makes it all happen. They move along the sidelines and slip through back passageways.
They are the first to arrive, a point of reference throughout an event, and the last to leave. They prepare the food, make the itinerary, rearrange the furniture, and put everything away afterward. Funerals, weddings, and all the gatherings in between are held together by those who stand outside the spotlight.
House elves prefer to be unnoticed. It’s a sign they’ve done their job well. If no one thinks to look back at the sound tech or seek out the janitor, things have run smoothly. House elves like being an unseen but key contributor to a bigger picture. People are their focus, and if those gathering for an event can come, eat, laugh, and leave better because of their experience— it’s a job well done.
“What do you want to be remembered for? Having the most stuff? Seeing the most exotic travel spots? Knowing the most famous people? Maybe it’s better to be forgotten— to leave people feeling loved and a little closer to the God you serve.”
-Amanda Brown
There are many benefits of such service. Here are a few…
Exporting God’s love
When you are fulfilled in Christ (Ps 73:25), you can’t help but pour out everything He’s given you to others (Ps 23:5). This was my experience when I graduated from college.
God used the deepest darkness I’ve yet to face to transform head knowledge facts I knew about Him into heart-felt truths that became the core of my psyche. With the last drip, drip, drip of trials trickling out, I was ready to proclaim the excellencies of my Savior.
This is the whole concept: Are you doing _______ because you want to be seen/loved/useful/needed OR because you know you are loved by God, you are complete in Christ, and you are worshiping your Savior? Are you working to be loved or because you are loved?
Volunteering is an excellent way to export truths you’ve learned about God. In a way, the entire act is an imitation of His grace: I am freely giving my time and energy to those who did not ask. It’s not about deserve. It’s about everything you can give.
Community
No matter how many volunteers go in and out, there is almost always a handful you can depend on to be there. With the time and experience it takes to develop friendships, volunteer opportunities are rich soil to build relationships.
A common goal, some with experience to train, and others with humility to learn, is about all it takes to form camaraderie. Repeated throughout reoccurring events, memories become a foundation. Before long, you have a team.
“[They] worked tirelessly, yet laughed freely.”
-Peter Hubbard
It’s something else to be able to exclaim the names of everyone who walks into a volunteer space. It takes time, but the shared convictions and work give birth to the kind of relationship where you proudly wear matching t-shirts, laugh at exponential rates, and take delight in good hard work for the sake of another.
Learning a skillset (and humility)
Volunteering is a good way to gain training in areas where you’d like to improve…and exercise humility. It’s embarrassing to submit yourself to the role of a stumbling fool, for people to see that you don’t know what you’re doing, but there’s so much to be gained from that low estate.
“It’s not about what you can do but Who you are related to.”
-Unknown
In pursuing ways to export the love He’s put in you, you’ll find yourself oddly comfortable with sacrificing a previously maintained self-image. It won’t matter that you don’t know something that’s so familiar to another. You’re trying, you’re learning, and God’s grace is thus able to work through you in the life of another.
“God did not add another day to your life because you needed it, He added it because someone needs you.”
-C.S. Lewis
Getting your eyes off of your work, your goals, your interests is key in the progressive sanctification of your heart. Jesus redeemed you at salvation, but life before His return is a refining process as He molds us into His image. You can’t find much more of that work—namely humility—outside of being in relationship with people.
Better sleep
Volunteering is exhausting, let’s just be honest. You’re putting the needs of others before your own and working all the hours around their coming— prepping food before they arrive, serving food while they’re here, and cleaning up the remaining mess once they’re gone.
Airplanes have brakes. Cars have brakes. Bikes have brakes. But volunteers do not get breaks. They’re always on call, even when they’re eating. They are the first to arrive and the last to leave. As my now roommate once said, “The staff may work at the church, but volunteers live at the church.”
“There’s nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer, Jack.”
-Lt. Col. James Doolittle, Pearl Harbor
Tech, facilities, and hospitality work have a “let me drop everything and help you with your problem” kind of mentality. It’s physically taxing and mentally exhausting but oh so fulfilling that you hit your bed tired but happy.
You sleep well after running around helping people in all the ways local church bodies and ministries serve their communities. To find yourself a small but key contributor to a mission so much bigger than yourself is energizing to the extent that ridiculous hours don’t seem that hard.
Helping others
You do not have to be “in power” to have a worthy position. There are so many practical, tangible ways to help others that servant leadership has much benefit. You don’t have to be a master chef to volunteer in a kitchen, just able to cut and stir.
Volunteer work is easy. It can be hard to push yourself the hours it lasts, but the work itself is so simple for how much benefit it brings another. You can fetch someone a napkin, refill a drink, and help carry something— but the joy and relief such a simple task brings someone is worth far more than the time and energy you put into it.
“You can see some small part of heaven before it comes in the relief on people’s faces and the joy in their voices knowing that God sent someone to help them, to lift them up and bring them closer to the goal God has put on their heart.”
-Nathan Janowski, “Greetings From Belgium”
The smiles of those you get to serve is a lot of what fuels volunteer work. Not because you’ve earned praise but because God is doing something in you, and you get to point back to Him via living testimony. We as mere creatures don’t have anything to offer, but God in us makes way for something beyond this world.
Seeing God come through
If you want to know there’s something beyond this world, you can see a glimpse of that reality on display anywhere a community gathers behind a common goal. It may seem daunting to renovate a second floor in two weeks, raise 1.5 million dollars, or feed 400 people three consecutive handmade meals— but God comes through.
“God likes to bring big harvests out of unlikely people in small places.”
-Peter Hubbard
Bit by bit, piece by piece, each relatively small task after another is a living testimony of how God works through the weak and foolish to accomplish something great. He may let you win the battle, but victory will come in a way that only He can get the credit.
Have I told you about my Savior? He takes me, who has nothing worthy to be praised, and not only fills me with His love but allows me to bless another. I am nothing, He is everything. And any way I can work to serve another is not me but God’s grace working through me.
Talk to those around you at the church meeting, look up local ministry organizations, and visit your church’s website to find ways you can get involved. There are so many more ways to help than it may seem. Look, then find these benefits of volunteering to be true for yourself.
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