This guest post is from K.J. Hill, our Community Development and Outreach Associate Pastor. To sign up for ServeRDU (July 30-Aug 1), click here.
As ServeRDU approaches and we begin publicizing projects, I find myself both excited and anxious. I’m excited because ServeRDU represents a tangible way we bless Raleigh-Durham, a way to demonstrate our love for our city by being out in the community en masse. We are able to put thousands of volunteer hours to use, blessing friends and organizations that are laboring year-round to provide valuable services to our most vulnerable neighbors.
We get the privilege of doing things for them that they may not otherwise get done—like landscaping or painting or re-organizing closets or scrubbing floors. Or we provide supplies and gifts that they don’t have the resources for, or the flexibility to allocate their resources to—like book bags and school supplies and gift cards to thank their employees and volunteers.
What could the impact be if a church the size of the Summit really leveraged our people and resources through ServeRDU? Could you imagine if the 9,000 people that attend the Summit on the weekends all committed to serve this year during ServeRDU? Wouldn’t that communicate so much to our skeptical community?
What makes me anxious, though, is that we could have 9,000 people commit to serve during ServeRDU and yet we could be motivated by something other than the mission of God. In fact, we could easily do that and not even realize it. I get anxious thinking that there are unintended consequences of hosting a huge event like ServeRDU. That maybe the message we are hearing is that if we just serve for a few hours, maybe even a few days, that we have done our part. We can go right back to our self-absorbed, comfortable lives, believing that the mission of God is convenient and organized and can be scheduled into a weekend.
ServeRDU started ten years ago and began as an attempt to help the people of The Summit Church learn how to prioritize the mission of God through service. Serving has a way of exposing our self-centeredness, and it also has a way of putting on display what we believe about who God is and what he has done to reconcile us to himself.
One of our Local Outreach plumblines communicates it this way: We serve because Jesus first served us. Our serving is a response to what Jesus has done. We don’t serve out of duty or because we are trying to earn God’s favor. We serve because the weight of what Jesus did in leaving heaven and coming to earth for our rebellious and self-centered souls is overwhelming. Serving is simply a response. And if it is a response to the gospel, then it must be something life-altering and central. It won’t be something that we can squeeze into the corners of our lives, which seems to be what we are saying when we relegate community involvement to a weekend once a year.
We want ServeRDU to be a launching point for ongoing relationships, a celebration of what is happening throughout the year, and not just a series of work projects. Can you imagine a church of 9,000 people who were living entire lives marked by serving our neighbors? The impact would be immeasurably greater than if those people simply showed up to paint houses for a couple hours. What if our people were captivated by the beautiful ridiculous message of the gospel, and responded by seeking out relationships with the underserved youth of Raleigh-Durham? What if they mentored our neighbors? What if they partnered with schools by volunteering and praying consistently for them? What if they joined our teams serving prisoners, single moms, orphans, homeless neighbors, or refugees? The world doesn’t know what to do with people like that.
Could we look back after another ten years and say that this was the year that ServeRDU moved from being primarily an event to a celebration? I think it’s possible. And I already see it happening all around our church. So what’s your first step? It might be signing up for ServeRDU for the very first time. Don’t wait: sign up today!
