"Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering..." (Rom. 12:7).

The gift of serving is very important because it motivates those who have it to meet the practical needs in the Church. The server sees all the needs in the ministry and tries to meet them. For this reason it always pleases me to see servers called into the five-fold ministry.

You may ask, "Marilyn, how can one be called into the five-fold ministry and have serving as a foundational gift? Shouldn't a person in those ministries have prophecy or teaching for a foundational gift?"

No, not really. In fact, a server who is called into full-time ministry will probably be more successful than other ministers with other foundational gifts. Let me explain why.

My husband Wally and I have had a lot of staff members come and go during our 25+ years in the ministry. Some of the people have left to begin their own ministries, and the ones who are really practical—who put their hands to the plow and not just behind the pulpit—are the ones who get their churches going and minister effectively to the people.

About two years ago, a young married couple on our staff felt called to move to another state and begin a ministry. Now, neither of them had a pulpit ministry when they worked for us, and when they announced their plans to begin a church, I thought, "Oh Lord, I hope they really heard from you on this!"

I knew they had both performed many practical tasks in the ministry, but I was concerned that neither had any pulpit experience.

Yet, today, their ministry is flourishing. Why? Because they're practical; they see needs and they meet them. You may be the finest teacher or preacher in the world, but if you don't meet your congregation's needs, you are not doing what you've been called to do.

Now I'm not saying that only servers should be in the five-fold ministry; I'm simply saying that they have an advantage. Those of us in the five-fold ministry must adopt the attitude of a servant to be truly successful.

What Are The Characteristics of Servers?
Servers are willing to employ physical energy almost to the point of exhaustion. They will accept any challenge and stick with it to completion—even if that means forfeiting several hours in which they could be doing something else they enjoy.

And servers take on these tasks whole-heartedly. I love their attitude! They don't say, "I'm an executive. I'm too important to do a menial task!" No, servers fashion themselves after Jesus. He wasn't an executive, was He? Jesus made no reputation and took on Himself the form of a servant (Phil. 2:7), and the Bible encourages us to do likewise:

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 2:5).

An interesting component of a server's personality is that he or she needs recognition. For example, many years ago a woman who designed clothing professionally began to attend our church. She was very talented and had even designed clothing for Hollywood stars.

But, now, she wanted to put her talents to use for God.

She approached me after church one Sunday morning and offered to design some clothes for me. I was just beginning to travel in the ministry and needed some new clothing, so, I accepted her offer. She made some beautiful outfits for me including a gorgeous long coat with a fox fur collar and cuffs.

I was very appreciative, but for some reason that didn't seem to satisfy her. Whenever I came home from a trip, she would meet me at the airport and ask, "Did anyone notice your coat?"

I thought, "Lord, why does this woman need so much reassurance?"

And the Lord answered me, "She is a server, and her service is unto Me. When people don't recognize her work, she feels that she has failed Me." In other words, recognition for her work assured her that her ministry was effective!

Servers are also aware of others' preferences and remember details. For example, if you go to servers' homes for coffee, they will make a mental note of whether you use cream, sugar, or whatever. And the next time you go to their homes for coffee, you won't have to remind them of your preference: they'll serve your coffee exactly the way you like it.

Servers prefer to work on projects that yield immediate results. They may even appear to be intimidated by long-range projects. Why? Because servers have a tendency to try to undertake everything single-handedly.

Also, servers are not ordinarily well-organized and can be overwhelmed by the prospect of organizing a long-range project.

In Philippians 4:2 Paul admonished two women, Euodias and Syntyche, to live in harmony. I wonder if these two women were servers. If so, I think I know how their difficulties may have begun.

In Biblical times women did all the cooking, and at an event, they all cooked together. Now, remember, servers are not ordinarily well-organized, and both of these women may have been trying to do all the work, thus duplicating some tasks and ignoring others.

Undoubtedly, they ended up arguing over who was going to perform which task.

This again shows us the importance of all the foundational gifts working together within the Body. If someone with the foundational gift of organizing had been working with Euodias and Syntyche, then everything probably would have gone very smoothly.

The organizer would have said, "Syntyche, you do the salads and the vegetables, and Euodias, you do the meat and gravy." Organizers will help servers to set goals so they can minister with maximum efficiency.

Source: Know Your Ministry by Marilyn Hickey
Excerpt permission granted by Marilyn Hickey Ministries