In the Bible, all Christians are urged to live a life of service. One that is modelled after the life of our own Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who came “not to be served, but to serve”. (Matthew 20: 24-28 NKJV)
Serving can be nice when it is seen and acknowledged by those around you and even appreciated. But there is another kind of service that may not be as nice, yet it is the kind we should practise often, and that is the unseen service.
What is the Unseen Service?
The unseen service is the service you do when no one is watching. It is the one that is not seen or even appreciated.
The unseen service can be throwing out the rubbish in the house and wiping the table. Not only when you’re asked to. It can be refilling the coffee jar that you know your brother hates finding empty. Washing the dishes you know your mother loves to see clean.
The unseen service can be spending time with the socially rejected and extending Christ’s love to them. It can be being kind and patient with those around you, not because you hope to gain approval or recognition, but it is what God asks us to do.
This kind of service is done without fanfare and without the eyes of men upon you. It is a service that focuses more on honouring God, than pleasing other people. (Colossians 3:23)
Service that Honours God
Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:1-4 (NKJV)
Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.
As revealed in the verse above, Jesus urges us to learn to focus more on God when we serve others, rather than trying to gain the attention and approval of man.
Our good deeds should not be done to prove our own goodness but rather, to respect and honour our relationship with God. As well as to honour His commandments.
That means we as Christians, should become accustomed to our acts of service sometimes going completely unnoticed.
The Unseen Service is Unnoticed
What you must learn to understand is that not all you do will be noticed. You can do something with all your heart and strength, only for it to be unacknowledged by those around you. That can be very disheartening.
But God’s eyes are continuously on us and He sees all you do. So when your service goes unnoticed by man, remember that it is noticed by God.
Don’t grow weary in doing good (2 Thessalonians 3:13), simply because your actions are not being acknowledged. The same goes for when your service is unappreciated.
The Unseen Service is Unappreciated
Everyone loves to be appreciated. It’s encouraging when you do something in service of someone else and get heartfelt thanks. But you cannot always expect your service or kindness to be thanked because sometimes it won’t be.
You could clean the dirty bathroom or spend time with the lonely person but in return you get…nothing. No gift let alone a thank you.
As Christians, we should get used to that.
Don’t expect to be appreciated for your service in the same way that you should not expect to have it noticed.
Whether you receive a thank you or not, know that your good deed was not wasted. All the good works you do store up rewards for you in eternity (Romans 2:7) , and they are acknowledged by your Heavenly Father.
Practising the Unseen Service
As you continue to practise the unseen service, as you get used to serving others and going unnoticed or being unacknowledged, you will be more like Jesus Christ.
Jesus came to serve humanity in the greatest way possible. He willingly became a man and gave up His own life that we might be cleansed of our sins and have eternal life. (John 3:16)
Yet, His service went unseen by many people in His time and continues to go unseen by many people in this time.
Many do not acknowledge what Jesus did for them.
Many people do not thank Him for what He did.
And the amazing thing is that the Lord knew it would be that way, yet He loved us, saved us, served us all, anyway.
There is a great lesson we can learn from that.
And what is that?
It is that, we too can love and serve those around us and continue to do so even when our service is unnoticed, even if it is unappreciated. For all we do is not really for man but for God.
In the end, when our time on earth is done, it is God alone we will answer to for all that we did or didn’t do.
And it is God who will call you a good and faithful servant for all your service whether it was seen or, it went unseen. (Matthew 25:23)
