Have Bike: Where Do I Go? How Do I Serve?

The opportunity to meet and touch the lives of so many individuals would be great. I don’t know the story of the photo; however, I am imagining the many possibilities. I can readily see the young man traveling from one town to another helping all kinds of people, in the name of Jesus.

Would you expect this guy to be a pastor of a local church? How about a Sunday school teacher? How about intercessory prayer? I don’t think so! Yes, there are pastors who love their bikes. However, they are most likely to be local. Nay, this young man has a calling to be a traveling evangelist.

In a perfect world, it would be easy to find one’s rightful place or immediately know how to function in a church community. Such a young man would automatically know the difference between a good idea and a bad one.

Alas! We don’t live in such a world or go to a church community that knows intuitively where everyone belongs. In truth, we go to a church and we are surrounded by imperfect people. These imperfect people have good hearts and good intentions. What does this mean for you?

People are not always going to respond in a fashion that we’d like. Yet, you should not grow disheartened by their negative reactions. Perhaps, you have an idea of what God is calling you, to do for the Kingdom of God.

It could be you’re struggling with the right way to go about it. I chose the biker analogy because it does paint a very real problem inside the local church. The analogy also opens the door for illustrating how one can go about things, in the right way.

My problem arises when I use my gifts in the wrong place or serve in a capacity that’s not a good fit. How about slipping into teaching mode when I’m supposed to be interceding for others? How about preaching when I’m supposed to be giving a short prophetic word of encouragement? How about you?

Yes, there is a sense of satisfaction or fullness when we’re serving in the right capacity. The challenge is in discovering the right way to go about it. This is one reason to be in a good supportive church community. Yes, we will make mistakes in the journey of discovery; yet we still need each other.

However, the calling to be a traveling evangelist would not have been immediately known. I can say the same thing about my writings. I did not know I was called to be an encourager and share insights into Scriptures. In both cases, we would have needed our brothers and sisters to help us.

As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are part of one Body and united in Christ Jesus. For this reason, our church family can see things that we don’t. At the same time, we do need to exhort each other to persevere and not grow weary.

Christian fellowship is not a replacement for time with God. Daily Bible reading, prayer, and soaking in God’s presence are essential ingredients for helping one to find their direction and sense of purpose. Truth is, we need both! They tend to work together.

Don’t be afraid to talk with God the Father about what God is calling you, to do. The Holy Spirit may give you a vision and you may need to ask someone, about it. That’s what happened to me. I have a friend who just knew that he wanted to be a musician. He also has the skills to back it up. In other cases, it’s trials and errors.

You simply need to step out in faith and trust Jesus in guiding you. After I had the vision, an opportunity came to take a special test. The test is put out by Peter Wagner and it’s a spiritual gifts test. It’s here that I discovered my two spiritual gifts: teaching & wisdom.

I would definitely encourage you to take such a test and talk about it, with some friends. Ask your friends if they think this is true. Your spiritual gifts and natural talents will mature, over time. For this reason, you need to cultivate your giftings, to get the most out of it.

It is worth mentioning that you should not confuse your calling with your giftings. Your calling is your purpose or what God has called you to do, for His Kingdom. You are not always going to know the details of your calling. It will be revealed as you take each step of faith.

Your spiritual gifts are given to you, by the Holy Spirit. They are spiritual tools that you will need to help you accomplish what God has called you to do. Your natural talents are either learned or you’re born with it. The more you develop your gifts and talents, the stronger they will grow. It’s not overnight!

How does this relate to our biker friend? For one, he already has a natural desire to travel and yearn for the open road. He would have had to develop an interest in riding his Harley Davidson. God could have imparted a desire to talk with different people.

His local church could help in discovering his spiritual gifts and decipher the calling to be an evangelist. These two things are not going to be immediately obvious. It also takes a lot of courage for someone to embark on such a thing.

If God has called our young man to be a traveling evangelist then you can count on Jesus to open the door of opportunity. As per Colossians 3:15, let the peace of Christ rule over your heart. You don’t need to force your way into it.

What if our biker’s friends raise some questions or concerns about being on the open road? I don’t have to be a biker to know that these are legitimate concerns. Their questions or concerns are not signs of rejection or obstacles.

In this case, plans could be made to stay in contact via smartphones and social media. He could also make plans to reach out to local biker clubs. This may come as a shock; most clubs are not bad news, if at all. There are many biker clubs that are associated with churches, foundations, and charities. Guess what? They’re not all part of the Christian Motorcycle Association.

Are you getting the point? I hope so; as I am likely pushing the biker analogy. What about church leadership? Shouldn’t this biker have their blessings or vision? In this scenario, I would think not.

Are the rest of the church joining our biker in what he is called to do? Probably not, ur biker only needs a small inner circle of friends to help him and to stay in contact with. At best, the church leaders would be glad to hear how he’s doing.

Are you struggling with your calling or finding the right way to exercise your gifting for the Kingdom of God? I would like to encourage you to seek Jesus and ask Him. Don’t be afraid to talk with Jesus about your struggles.