17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.
18 Behold, ye have called me your king; and if I, whom ye call your king, do labor to serve you, then ought not ye to labor to serve one another?
I love being a dad. With 3 children currently under the age of 4, my wife and I have enough to do around the house. I could easily conclude I that I am currently one of the weak members of my church congregation and need to spend all of my time serving only my wife and children. But as my wife and I raise our children, our commitment to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has also deepened. Our family has developed a greater desire to accept callings to serve outside our family. We have seen the blessings within our family as we have served others and shared our love of the gospel with our friends.
The church as an organization puts service opportunities in my path several times a week. Appointed leaders in our congregation--who were called and accepted to volunteer their service--extend callings to the rest of the congregation. We are encouraged to accept callings to serve because through them we learn to become more Christ-like and learn to love His children. When we address other members in the ward as "Brother" and "Sister," we mean it. Service opportunities stretch me and the Lord empowers me to practice my Christ-centered beliefs.
Why do I choose to belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as an organized religion, rather than attempt as an individual to live a good life? It is because the church helps me understand and practice the essence of Christianity. The mechanism by which the organization achieves this is to have no professional clergy. We don’t hire ministers or priests to teach and care for us. This forces us to teach and care for each other – and in my view, this is the core of Christian living as Christ taught it. Many of my friends belonging to different faiths find service opportunities outside of the church they attend and I commend them for their diligent service. But those same friends miss out on the joy of serving within their congregations when they “outsource” the teaching and care of the members of their church to specially trained professionals.
During my first year of college, I attended a great student congregation that helped me mature and look outside of myself. I was surrounded by selfless 18 and 19 year old guys who were all preparing to serve the Lord as full-time missionaries wherever they were called to go. I caught the vision while I served as the sunday school director and attempted to get all the sunday school instructors organized. I provided the instructors with resources on how to teach their classes while focusing on knowing all of the individuals they taught. I also deeply enjoyed preparing and teaching sunday school lessons and sparking discussion with my peers. It was a struggle sometimes and some organization meetings went long but I saw a change in my life to desire to serve the my brothers and sisters with more conviction.
When it came time for my mission interview, my bishop said he recognized the change that took place in my life during my first year of college. We had a great interview and I received my mission call to serve in Sweden. The missionary service I was called to do focused on inviting others to follow Christ by accepting the gospel. I also participated in teaching English in high schools, helping people move, helping inactive members return to activity, encouraging local members to share the gospel with their friends, and organizing youth activities. I was exhausted at the end of every day but I had never been happier.
Since I was twelve years old, I have always accepted the calling to serve other families as their "home-teacher." All members in the congregation are assigned to visit other families. The calling entails frequent visits to a few families to share a short gospel message and find ways to serve them. I have kept in contact for over 15 years with some of my families and developed a love for those families that would not have come any other way.
I believe that all people, especially affluent and comfortable people, have a deep-rooted need to consistently serve in their community. Mormons have been cultured to know everyone in their congregation because they never know who they'll be called to serve next. In a recent Gladys Knight fireside I attended, she said that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints requires an enormous sacrifice from its members and leaves you exhausted from countless hours of service. I can't think of any other way that the Lord would have it.
*A special thanks to Clayton M. Christiansen's essay entitled "Why I Belong, Why I Believe" for inspiring me to identify more clearly why I enjoy belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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