Faithfulness And Professionalism In Serving 事奉中的专一与专业
Author : Bro Goh Hun Keng
Translated By : Sis Charis Ong
“if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.”
Perhaps every Christian had thought or hoped to experience serving God in their lifetime. Some had done it, others have not had the chance, and many are in the process of doing so. No matter which of the above applies to us, we are aware in our hearts that faithful service to God is the source of blessing. For those who have yet to be involved in ministry, they might hope for a chance and the day that they finally do so, or they might wish that their talent or gifting will be discovered and join the ministry team.
It is a beautiful thing to be able to serve God in church, yet attitude in serving and the performance of service are two different matters. Not only is God’s house holy and righteous, but it must also be a place with orderly governance. For this reason, we must be faithful in our service to focus on tasks entrusted to us and do it well. Just as it is written in Romans 12:7-8, we must be faithful and filled with zeal. Avoid being involved in matters that have little relations to your area of work so that you will not be distracted from your tasks.
In this day and age, leaders must face various challenges and commitments, therefore apart from attending to their immediate tasks they also need to have a ready set of tools for governance – that is they must be equipped with expertise to carry out their tasks effectively, and know how to apply problem-solving mechanisms, etc. It is my opinion that the role of a steward is not about managing the church with authority. Rather, hard-work and humility should be a more appropriate way. “Humility” refers to an attitude that is not prideful despite possessing the ability. Apart from this, the most important condition, naturally, will be dependence on God’s spiritual guidance for all these to work. Zechariah 4:6 says, “Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.”
May we all become a vessel for God and be a blessing for the church!
文:吴汉卿弟兄
事奉中的专一与专业
“或作执事，就当专一执事；或作教导的，就当专一教导；或作劝化的，就当专一劝化；施舍的，就当诚实；治理的，就当殷勤；怜悯人的，就当甘心。”
每一位基督徒或者曾有想过，希望能在有生之年有过在教会事奉神的经历。有的人曾经服事过，但有些人还没有机会，也有多人正在服事中。无论我们处在哪一种情况，心里都会意识到忠心事奉神，乃是蒙福的根源。那些还没有参与事奉的人，可能会期待有机会参与事奉那一天的到来，或希望自己的长处和恩赐会被察觉到而加入服事的团队。
能够在教会事奉神当然是一件美事，但事奉的态度和表现却是另外一回事。神的家，不但是圣洁和公义的，也必须是一个治理有条有理的地方。为这缘故，我们的事奉就要专一，才能专心把所托付的职责做好。就如罗马书12章7-8 节所说的，当专一而积极。避免过多兼任或参与和你本人职责不太相关的事，以致你不能专心把份内的事做好。
在当今的时代，成为一个领袖，要面对各种不同的挑战和付出，除了要专一处理职分内的事以外，也需要拥有一些随时可使用的治理工具，就是要具备专业知识来有效执行任务；以及掌握如何运用解决问题的机制等等。我想，管家的职责并不是在于权力管理教会，比较恰当的方法应该是以努力、谦虚来治理教会。“谦虚”乃是指有才干而不高傲的心态。除了具备了这些条件，当然，最重要的还是需要依靠神的灵引导才能发挥功效。撒迦利亚四章六节：「不是依靠势力，不是依靠才能，乃是依靠我的灵方能成事。」
但愿我们都能成为神使用的器皿，成为教会的祝福！