My Life Doesn't Matter

At some point in their lives, many people have made (or thought) the statement, "My life doesn't count for anything." In particular, they believe that their life does not matter for the cause of Christ.

There are many possible reasons for such thinking. Many Christians believe that if they are not involved in full-time service, they are not accomplishing anything worthwhile for God; they perceive that only the pastors and missionaries and Christian school teachers are really able to contribute to God's work. Others may think their lives worthless for God because they are "just" a stay-at-home mom or because they are retired or too old. Others despair that they have messed up too badly (or too often) or that they haven't been saved long enough. Still others may have a physical impairment that limits their activities or an extraordinary work load that hinders their involvement.

All of these people are wrong. Every life matters for Christ. God illustrates the church by comparing it to a human body. Every part is important. Consider someone who might be the little toe, the spleen, or the bony elbow. Those parts may not seem very noteworthy, but the body would be incomplete and lacking without them. It could not function to its full capacity; every part has value and has something to contribute.

It is a mistake to base one's usefulness to God on a single factor, no matter how significant that factor may be. Granted, it may be easier to see the value of the pastor or evangelist due to the fact that his forty-or-more-hour-per-week job is directly devoted to ministry. Every Christian, however, has the same number of hours in a week. Life is more than the major component of vocation; it is, in fact, made up of a combination and collection of tiny, ordinary moments that are joined together to make up the entire life.

For example, a mother can have tremendous impact for Christ within her own home. Every day provides opportunities to show her children how to love, how to behave, how to pray, how to be kind, and much more. Every day gives her opportunities to encourage her husband and assist him in his labors. Every day yields another opportunity to pray for her family members to grow in spiritual things.

Even without children in the home, a woman can serve God in many ways. She can sing faithfully in the choir or serve selflessly in the nursery. She can care for aging parents. She can ask how someone is doing. She can pray with a fellow believer, or pray for someone else and tell them so.

An elderly church member can pray for others. He can give godly advice to those who are younger. He can greet visitors with a smile or a handshake. He can sing as if he really means it. He can transport others to the doctor. He can write a note of encouragement or make a phone call to check on someone.

A Christian in the secular workplace can be a diligent worker who represents Christ well and who is not ashamed to speak of his faith in God. He can build up his own family and encourage others by being faithful in church. He can help out as an usher or fill other areas of need in the church. He can share a testimony of God's faithfulness or tell another believer what God is teaching him.

Every Christian can practice kindness and love within the church. Every Christian can give to meet the needs of others. Every believer can study the Word of God so that it shapes and molds his actions and attitudes. Believers can take advantage of missions opportunities or methods of outreach in their communities. They can give financially to help pastors, missionaries, or other Christian ministries.

Every one of these actions is a way of serving God. Many of them may seem small in and of themselves, but when they are added together, they can create a life that is constantly doing the work of God. Churches ought to be filled with believers who are doing exactly that - loving and edifying one another, encouraging others through faithfulness, and facilitating the work of the ministry. Any time one life touches another life, there is the opportunity to play some role in the work of Christ.

When someone dies, these life stories, composed of multiple small moments, are often shared. One person tells of encouragement received; another recalls being prayed for. Someone else reveals the impact of the person's testimony. Some will acknowledge that their lives were forever changed or that they resisted turning away from God, at least in part due to that person. I believe churches are filled with these people - dear Christians who are serving in ways that they don't even know and have far more impact than they realize. Maybe other church members do not realize the impact either until they hear everyone else sharing as well, creating a more complete picture of the deceased's life. In truth, only God knows the full story.

The bottom line is that every person can have tremendous impact on the work of God by being faithful to the life God has given him and by quietly performing these multiple small actions that each contribute to God's service and to the benefit of the church. No one is too young, too old, too sick, too isolated, too talentless, or too insignificant to serve God. Therefore, each Christian should constantly look for opportunities both large and small to do what he can do in order to advance the work of God.

"He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much." Luke 16:10 (NASB)

"His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.'" Matthew 25:21

"If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired." I Corinthians 12:17-18