How Can Busy Parents Serve The Brethren?

“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” 
Galatians 5:13

“Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.”

Romans 12:13

“So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

Galatians 6:10

“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought also to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.”

John 13:14-15

     The New Testament is quite clear: saints are to be servants. We are to consider the needs of our brethren, seek out opportunities to fill those needs to the best of our abilities, and live as selflessly as we can. However, there is a time in the Christian’s life when being a servant to the brethren becomes especially difficult, not because of an unwillingness to do it, but because the demand on our time is constant and so very demanding. I am speaking of the years when our children are very young, very needy, and always requiring attention.

     For those of us who have young children it is very easy for our world to shrink to the confines of our own homes. We feed them, bathe them, play with them, bandage them when necessary, comfort them after a scrape or bruise, clothe them, hold them, put their pajama’s on, tuck them in at night, love them always, and then repeat the process the next day. Sometimes we even lose track of the day as they begin to sort of run together. This process is repeated daily for several years.

     I have seen in my own family how easy it is to stop being a servant to the brethren when young children are at home. It is not because we love the brethren any less or have no desire to serve them; it is simply that the demands on our time are so stringent. If we’re not careful our world quickly extends no further than the walls of our own home. As the above verses demonstrate, that’s quite a problem. Saints are servants; even when young children are in the home.

     So, how are busy parents to find the time to serve their brethren and others? Below are several suggestions that I have found helpful and hope you will as well.

Suggestions

1. Do not discount the service you can render without stepping foot outside your home. Make sure you listen to the announcements before worship to see who is in need of thoughts and prayers. If the congregation of which you are part prints a bulletin containing a list of those in need, make sure you take one home with you each week. Mention those people in your private prayers, but then take the extra step of giving them a call or sending them a card. If you’re especially busy and often lose track of time, write yourself reminders and put them in prominent places throughout the house. Write a different name and phone number on each reminder and give that brother or sister a call, preferably the moment you see the reminder. It may not seem like much to us, but it can make someone’s day to receive a call from a loving brother or sister, especially when they can hear the little one’s tearing through the house on the other end of the line.

2. Check with certain brothers or sisters before making the family grocery run. It is not easy for some of our brethren to get out these days. A simple visit to the grocery store can take about all the energy they have. There may be an item or two they could really use but just haven’t been able to get out to pick it up. Perhaps we can do it for them.

3. Prepare an extra serving and provide a brother or sister with dinner. This is such an easy thing to do and really lets the brethren know that we’re thinking of them. Often brethren who are hesitant to ask someone to make a grocery run for them greatly appreciate a prepared plate of dinner.

4. Make a drive through town to serve a brother or sister in some way a “family night.” I have noticed that often our children don’t really care what we’re doing as long as we’re doing it together. Taking a meal to someone, even if they don’t leave the car, is often great fun for the kids simply because they’re out of the house and driving around with mommy and daddy.

5. Have brethren with young children over to the house for a meal and conversation. With your children tearing through the house, it can make inviting brethren over seem a bit intimidating. We worry about how the children will behave and how many messes will need to be cleaned up. Inviting brethren with children about the same age provides the children some friends to tear through the house with, and provides the parents some adult conversation. It’s also a wonderful way to get to know brethren better and serve their needs.

6. Incorporate the children into your serving. As they get a bit older, start making a point of showing them what service looks like. Take them to hospitals and homes to visit. Have them write a note to a brother while you’re writing one to a sister. Start asking them what can be done with the extra food from dinner. Start asking them why we do these things for people. The sooner they learn what service looks like, the sooner they’ll come to understand the love and compassion that motivates it.

7. Read the Bible, sing songs, and pray with your children every night. I know we’re tired. I know they’ve been bouncing off the walls all day. I know we’re counting down the moments until they’re tucked safely in bed and we can collapse onto the couch with an exhausted sigh. However, let’s make sure our days are not complete until God has been allowed to speak to the family through His Word. Let a different child choose their favorite song each night (We’ve sung Trust And Obey more often sitting on the floor at home than in any building). Ask the children to say their own prayer before going to bed. Every night one of our children asks, “Daddy, can we do our reading now?” There is no surer way to teach them about service than in letting them hear it directly from the mouth of God.

   

     Parents of young children, we can be servants to our brethren. I hope these suggestions help you as much as they have helped me.