A Heart to Serve: Three Dispositions According to Paul

Introduction

When Paul arrives in Corinth (Acts 18), he enters a lavish city, famous for its trade, its ports, and its skylines that catch every eye. Famous too, unfortunately, for the loose living of its residents, for its idolatry and its pagan cults. Everything still needs clearing, everything still needs doing. And the apostle settles in, works with his hands as a tentmaker alongside Aquila and Priscilla, and every Sabbath he reasons in the synagogue, persuading Jews and Greeks that Jesus is the Christ.

What strikes Maxime Dehays in this account isn't Paul's strategy. It's the disposition of his heart. In 1 Corinthians 9:18-19, the apostle will write: "What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them."

The Word calls us to think about our manner of serving more than our position while serving. It isn't the size or the rank of the service that makes the difference before God: it's the disposition of the heart. And in Paul, that disposition rests on three foundational marks.

Outline of the message

1. A heart disposed to serve together

• "He found a Jew named Aquila... with his wife Priscilla" (Acts 18:2): Paul arrives in Corinth and he isn't alone. God hasn't called us to serve all by ourselves.
• In the Word, men and women serve together. There are very few isolated cases; even Jeremiah had Baruch, his scribe.
• Moses discovered that his ability to lead the people was being pushed to its limits: God used Aaron to speak to Pharaoh, then gave him seventy elders to carry the burden with him (Numbers 11:16). God also spots exhaustion when someone has their head down in the grind.
• Jesus himself, very soon after his baptism and the temptation, chooses disciples. David surrounded himself with others. Paul, on his missionary journeys, was surrounded by others. No one is ever alone: we form one body.
• 1 Corinthians 12 reminds us of this: "the body does not consist of one member but of many" (v. 14), "if one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together" (v. 26).
• Even during lockdown, seen from above we were each alone in our own homes, but the body never stopped functioning. Fellowship, intercession, prayer chains: God let us serve together through means we couldn't even have imagined beforehand.

2. A whole heart for Christ, that glorifies Christ

• "Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus" (Acts 18:5). He comes as a simple laborer in the middle of a lavish city, and the Spirit of God is at work through his service.
• When he's gripped by the Spirit and proclaims the Word, Paul gives himself entirely. It's a total commitment. No comfort. Humanly speaking, you might think, "This city isn't on your level." And yet, total commitment.
• Our own service, whatever it looks like, Corinth, a youth group, a Bible study, a choir rehearsal, our families, our neighbors who don't yet know Jesus, calls for total commitment.
• "One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much" (Luke 16:10). When God gives us a heart ready to serve him, we have to give everything, down to the smallest details: that's the meaning of sacrifice, of zeal for Christ.
• Serving with Christ at the center means continually decreasing so Christ can increase, "he must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30, John the Baptist). The more room we give Jesus, the more effective our work for God will be.
• We need to give the Word of God its full place back. How many sermons, how many messages leave out the message of the cross, fail to teach on sin, aren't centered on Christ? Any local church, any revival movement that doesn't give preaching and teaching of the Word the place they deserve is doomed to weakness and ineffectiveness.
• Paul reminds us: "God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise... God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong... so that no human being might boast in the presence of God" (1 Corinthians 1:27-29).

3. A heart turned toward your neighbor

• "I have made myself a servant to all" (1 Corinthians 9:19). Getting involved in service without love for your neighbor is madness, it's self-destructive.
• This is one of Paul's central teachings to the Corinthians: to those who had received spiritual gifts, he reminds them that gifts without love are nothing. "Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away... but love never ends" (1 Corinthians 13:8).
• What do we do with the Master's command: "Love your neighbor as yourself"? Paul loved the Corinthians. He could be harsh in his letters, he corrected them, but with love.
• Paul knew where he came from. He, the Pharisee thirsting for murder and blood, from the harshest of the religious sects, and yet Jesus looked on him with love and compassion, one day, on the road to Damascus.
• "This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:3-4).
• Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners; he never condoned sin, but he loved them. Paul didn't condone the Corinthians' sin, but he stayed in Corinth and he loved the Corinthians. We, thrown into the working world, sometimes into a jungle, shouldn't let ourselves be won over by the world's mindset, but should love our neighbor.

Key takeaways

• Before God, it isn't the size or rank of the service that counts, it's the disposition of the heart.
• You can't serve alone: God has called us to form one body, to suffer and to rejoice together.
• A whole heart for Christ gives itself in the smallest details; faithfulness in small things opens the door to faithfulness in great things.
• Any church, any ministry that no longer gives the Word and the message of the cross their central place is doomed to weakness.
• Loving your neighbor while you serve isn't an optional add on: without love, service is just foolishness.

Personal application

1. With what disposition of heart am I making myself available today for Jesus, for my church, for my brothers and sisters?
2. Am I trying to serve alone, or am I welcoming the brothers and sisters God places beside me, with the abilities they have that I don't?
3. In what "small details" of my service is God calling me right now to a total commitment, without seeking comfort?
4. Am I letting the Word and the cross keep their central place, in my life, in what I listen to, in what I pass on?
5. Are there people around me I've judged by their reputation or their lifestyle, whom God is calling me to love with the same compassion Jesus showed Paul on the road to Damascus?

Verses cited

• Acts 18:1-5 (LSG)
• 1 Corinthians 9:18-19 (LSG)
• Acts 20:34-35 (LSG)
• Numbers 11:16-17 (LSG)
• 1 Corinthians 12:14, 26 (LSG)
• 1 Corinthians 13:8 (LSG)
• 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 (LSG)
• John 3:30 (LSG)
• Luke 16:10 (LSG)
• 1 Timothy 2:3-4 (LSG)

Frequently asked questions

What is a heart disposed to serve according to Paul?

A heart that agrees to serve alongside others, that stays entirely centered on Christ for his glory, and that is turned toward its neighbor in love. These three dispositions come out of Paul's ministry in Corinth (Acts 18) and his teaching in 1 Corinthians 9:18-19.

Why can't we serve God all by ourselves?

Because God has called us to form one body. Paul arrived in Corinth and joined Aquila and Priscilla. Moses received seventy elders to carry the burden of the people. Jesus himself surrounded himself with disciples. Trying to serve alone leads to burnout and to going off course.

How do I love people I don't respect when I serve?

By remembering where the Lord came to find you. Paul loved the Corinthians despite their loose living because he knew Jesus himself had found him on the road to Damascus while he was persecuting the church. The Lord desires that all people be saved (1 Timothy 2:4): it's that same love that should drive your service.