Volunteering vs Serving in the Church: Is there a difference?

    "Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness.....And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:14-15
  The question that I have for you today is this:  Is there a difference between volunteering and serving in the church?  At a recent stewardship conference I attended, one of our synodical leaders asserted that there is a big difference.  It gave me opportunity to pause, observe, and think about how members in our churches are viewing their own work in the church.
   The word "volunteer"means one who voluntarily undertakes or expresses a willingness to undertake a service.  Now that is not so bad, there is a willingness to undertake some task.  However, the definition uses a form of the word in the definition, so we have to look that up too.  Voluntary means proceeding from the will or from one's own choice or consent.  This is where we run into the difference when it comes to church work.  If one sees themself as merely a volunteer, it kind of takes God out of the equation.  It becomes all about me and my will and what I want (or DON'T want) to do.  Then all of the control is mine, and I get to decide when I am DONE volunteering for church work.
    As was pointed out, this leads to poor stewardship, because it is all about us and what we want,   so we are tied down to emotions, and self, and our will rather than serving God and His will for our live and His church with the gifts/talents He has given us.  Serving the Lord shouldn't be about us at all, it should be about having that faithful desire to follow God's will and to serve Him and our neighbor, as Jesus, God's Son loved and served us.
     I think that when people say and think that they are merely volunteering in the church, they run the risk of falling into the trap of thinking it is my time and my choice and my skills to do with as I see fit.  Rather, I believe that we should recognize the gifts that we have and where they have come from; and then I think we should search in His Word as to how we can be good stewards of those gifts, and SERVE God and others to build up the Church and give glory to God.  Who needs the "Control?"  There is much more freedom in serving the Lord.
So, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!  How about you?
Thanks for reading!  God's blessings to you and your families.  And since I do not blog on Sundays....Happy Father's Day to all those Dads tomorrow!  Enjoy your day!