And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: "Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk?
Acts 3:12
Yesterday’s post was about how to praise God as we encourage those He uses in our lives in such a way that God, not the person, gets the glory. Today let’s approach the same topic addressing those God uses (and I hope that includes all who serve God by serving His people).
“I give and I give. I never ask for anything in return, and this is the thanks I get!” That is a rather exaggerated example of wanting recognition for what we do. It is a natural reaction to never being acknowledged. But if we are serving God, our service never goes unnoticed! He always sees! And He will reward His servants. Of course in addition to seeing what we do, He also sees the attitudes with which we do what we do. Yikes!
I frequently pray for those in our church who do “behind the scenes ministries”—things that are seldom, if ever, noticed. Unnoticed, that is, unless they aren’t done! Few think about the fact that the restrooms are cleaned, the bulletins are printed and folded, the coffee is prepared, the doors are unlocked, and are also locked when everyone leaves. My prayer is always that those who serve in these “invisible” ways would do what they do as an act of worship to the Lord.
It is nice to be acknowledged, but if we do what we do to be acknowledged by people—didn’t Jesus address that when speaking about giving, prayer, and fasting (Matthew 6:1-18)? Didn’t He say that the reward we seek from people is all the reward we shall receive?
Let us do what we do as acts of worship to the Lord. Then it won’t matter if people see us or give us thanks.
Because we do receive acknowledgment for our services from time to time, let us respond graciously, while deflecting any adulation, by praising the Lord. When complimented for service, we can say something like: “I praise God that He blessed you by what He allowed me do.” Or: “I am thankful to be used by the Lord in that way.”
And lastly, when we don’t get acknowledged, remember these words a wise man (Gayle Erwin) once said: “If you want to know if you have a servant’s heart, see how you react when someone treats you like one.”