Why You're Serving for the Wrong Reason (And How to Fix It)

Daniel Correa, our youth pastor, opens by telling how long he has served at New Hope: since sixth or seventh grade, starting on the tech team, then in children’s ministry, then with the Levites after Pastor Jay told him to show up at 5:00 a.m. on a Saturday. The message is about Jesus the servant, in three parts: who Jesus is, his character and how he serves.

First, Jesus is for everyone. Isaiah’s prophecy says the nations will put their hope in him, which would have shocked a Jewish audience. Daniel reads from Romans 10 that there is no difference between Jew and Gentile. We are saved by faith, not by Sunday attendance or how many ministries we serve in.

Second, his character. After the Pharisees plot to kill him, Jesus withdraws. Daniel says this was obedience to his Father’s timing, not cowardice. The crowds follow him anyway, like a congregation following the pastor home after a long sermon, and instead of sending them away, Jesus heals all of them. He tells them not to make him known because he cares only about his Father’s will. Matthew quotes Isaiah 42: he will not quarrel or cry out. “When we look at meekness, it’s not weakness, it’s meekness.” Daniel warns that we often project our human fathers onto God and miss how good he is.

Daniel admits he served for years without knowing Jesus. He came to faith at 18 at a youth camp. Before that he served out of family expectation and duty, sometimes after a late Saturday night, and with a heart that said “they need me.” Serving without Jesus’ heart doesn’t do anyone good, including ourselves.

Third, how Jesus serves. A bruised reed is a broken stalk most people would rip out. Jesus sees it and does the hard work of restoring it. A smoldering wick has run out of oil and gives off more smoke than flame, like a life with no prayer and no worship. Daniel tells how during COVID his online youth group dropped to zero viewers for a month. He wanted to quit, and found he had been trying to earn by doing. “The enemy doesn’t come at you spear on but he typically comes from the side.”

He closes by naming four groups: bruised reeds and smoldering wicks, whom he invites to come for prayer; passive Christians who aren’t serving anywhere, whom he urges to start, “not because our church needs it but because Jesus did it first”; and active servants, whom he asks to bring someone along.