I read a church sign a few years ago that said “If you’re a Christian, God needs you.”  Now I think I know what that sign was trying to say. I think that sign was trying to raise awareness that as a Christian, I have a responsibility to share Jesus with others. But there is a subtle difference between saying that God has called me to share and God needs me to share.   

Acts 17:25 reveals concerning God, “…Nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” Mark 10:45 says, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus did not come to be served. He came to serve. He came to help. He doesn’t need our help. So Christians, quit serving God … as if he needs you.

So why should anyone serve God since he doesn’t need us? Because Jesus served us first. 1 John 4:19 explains, “We love because he first loved us.” God doesn’t’ need our love, he is perfectly content within his Trinity, yet we love because he first loved us.  God doesn’t need our service, he is perfectly capable himself, yet we serve because he first served the world at Calvary. The Christian’s passion to evangelize is not cultivated by the belief that God is deficient (i.e. God needs us). His passion to evangelize is cultivated by the belief that God is good. 

John Piper, who got my wheels turning for this article, has stated, “God has no need for us to meet. No, he glorifies himself in meeting our needs.”  So the paradox that the Bible teaches is that the more we serve God, the more God actually serves us. He is our rock and our salvation. He is our soul’s deepest satisfaction. And he delights in meeting our every need. You want to serve God? Allow him to serve you. Allow his Gospel to become a weighty and joyous reality of your heart. Allow his goodness to lead you to greater obedience. 

When I unload the dishwasher, I don’t need any help from my 3- year-old daughter. But my daughter delights in serving by helping to unload the dishes and put them away. Does my daughter help me because there is some deficiency in me? Does my daughter help me because I am in need of help? No. But my daughter serves me because it in turn helps her to learn how to unload the dishwasher and to cultivate a deeper intimacy with Daddy. Friends, God doesn’t need us to unload his dishwasher. By serving God, we are allowing God to serve us with our soul’s greatest need: God! 

We belittle Jesus when we make him out to be needy. We glorify God when we acknowledge our need for Him.  Quit serving God as if he needs you. Worship God because he served us all, beginning in that Bethlehem manger. 

Matthew Homan is the pastor of Eureka Baptist Church. He can be reached at matt@eurekabckeysville.com.