One afternoon at Wayne Memorial Hospital, I sat with Dr. Burkett Raper while he received treatment for his disease. He was a captive audience, and I was the chaplain on duty for the day. This was only one of many times I would enjoy his company.

Often during these times, he would do, what we might call, life review. He recalled a few defining moments as a college president, fundraiser, and overall visionary. I heard of generous donors who gave sacrificially to Dr. Raper’s vision and the transforming work of this young struggling school, and yet somehow, a powerful force was moving through many who joined the mission. We responded with a sense of duty, and to a divine calling to service.

Only those Free Will Baptist who lived under rocks or in caves were unaware of Dr. and Mrs. Raper’s passion for the college and the Free Will Baptist Church. From his stories, I knew Dr. and Mrs. Raper loved—us! They really, really, loved us! I know some needed substantially more grace than others, yet they loved us.

Among the many lessons I learned from those treatment room visits, the most potent lesson was how worship was an act of service. Dr. Raper commented that this is why we call it a worship “service.” Our service to the Lord is our worship. To say it another way, when we come to a scheduled time for worship, we, as Christian believers, are reporting to our place of spiritual business. Much in the way we punch a time clock for our usual avocation, we arrive to do spiritual work.

The more that I think about it, worship is our time “on the clock” to work hard at praising God as a group of believers. I admit, this challenges my typical way of thinking about worship services. This single point obliterates the argument of fickle Christians who say they “aren’t being fed” or “don’t get anything out of the service.” Well, that’s the point, no one is there to serve you! To paraphrase Carly Simon, you’re so vain; I bet you think this service is about you, don’t you?

We arrive on time to collect our order of work for the day. The bulletin scripts out the work. We will sing…give…pray…listen…think…reflect. Each of these requires something of us. We do something. We stand, sit, or kneel, not nearly as much as our Catholic friends. We might raise our hands, bow our heads, hug a fellow worshiper, or reach for our wallet in a generous spirit. We are intentional about remembering someone who could benefit from our prayers. Sometimes we stand and give testimony about the marvelous works of God.

Our musicians certainly work hard to lead us in worship. Most gifted musicians spend time perfecting their art form. Practice the song. Now, practice it again. Sometimes the musicians in my congregation practice for hours on Wednesday and Sunday morning, just to get ready for service. No one will disagree; this is real work.

Our pastors work on their sermons. Studying, praying, writing, reading, rewriting, and totally scrapping the sermon and doing something else the Lord provides. Even if your pastor downloads them from the internet, he has to read and edit to fit the needs of the day. A typical sermon can take me six hours to prepare. When particularly inspired, I might get it in four. There were times I worked until the wee hours of the morning in my office to finish a eulogy, only to start again after the funeral to get ready for Sunday or Bible Study. I haven’t mentioned the physical labor leading the service or delivering the sermon or the raspy voice that comes after a week of preaching revival service.

Time nor space will permit me to address all the areas of service within a congregation. We should indeed mention Sunday School teachers, children’s church leaders, and the beloved brother who turns on the air condition or the heat. None should be taken lightly, but when we are together in our scheduled time of worship, we must work. You cannot fail to give the Lord your full attention. Take a nap at home, not during the service.

Everyone knows you can’t sing, but that does not mean you should neglect your duty to praise God. Folks know you don’t like to pray aloud, but that doesn’t mean you can neglect your job description to offer private prayers to God. Let love for God motivate your kind service to the Lord and all human beings.

Earlier today, I received a call from a colleague at Vidant Hospital. We were expressing our frustration that a task was left incomplete because another employee decided to leave the work undone. Ugh! Do you have coworkers like that, or it just me? Simple tasks left undone because the responsible party felt entitled to say the task wasn’t important enough to complete. Maybe they feel they don’t get paid enough to see the job through to completion? Or maybe they feel it better just sit back, relax, and live off the hard work of other people? Whatever happened to job performance?

We must not neglect our work for the Lord. We must show up for work with a mind to do excellent work. To hear “well done good and faithful servant,” we must have been good and faithful in our service of worship and discipleship.