Dino Rizzo on a Lifelong Journey of Serving
March 4, 2011 | 1 Comments | Leadership, Ministry, Missions
At Seeds Conference, Dino Rizzo of Healing Place Church (Baton Rouge, LA) discussed living a lifelong journey of serving.
I believe that there is nothing greater than embracing how God has called you to serve. There is no greater role, title, or position than being a servant. There is nothing greater to achieve. The greatest husband is a servant. The greatest pastor is a servant.
The one thing that is common with all of us is what Jesus rewards us with. At the end of the day, we will all stand before Jesus as He says, “You have been a faithful servant.” And I believe that being a servant is something easy to drift away from.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Hebrews 12:1-3
I love the idea of endurance. God, give us hearts that endure. Anyone who has followed Christ for more than a month or so or a year has found that much of what God wants is through a process. God will always use a process. He will always use endurance and perseverance to develop you.
It is the great incubator of the local church that helps build so much endurance. God uses the context of the local church. God uses the context of leadership. It is in the local church that I have learned the most about the race - about being a servant of the Most High.
Jesus was patient with His disciples in the process of developing them who they need to be. In Matthew 15, Jesus was surrounded by all sorts of people with all sorts of problems, and Jesus loved all of them. Jesus told His disciples that He had compassion on them. After three days of healing people, Jesus still had compassion and did not want them to go away hungry. It is almost like Jesus is saying to His disciples, “You think you are done, but you are not done yet.” That is the story of a servant.
Serving is a lifelong journey. I believe that there is a day when all kinds of people with all kinds of problems show up on your doorstep. And you need to serve them. If you are not willing to serve in secret, then you will never be ready to serve faithfully in public. If you don’t value the small things, then you will not be entrusted with big things.
Will you be found serving when the Lord comes to find you?
