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But direct service should not be a reason to avoid indirect support, especially when that indirect support involves generous giving. Giving is not only a commandment and and expectation of all of the Lord’s stewards, but it also gives us a heart for those whom the Lord loves. When Jesus said in Matthew 6:21, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” he was certainly commending us to do the things that would lead us to store up treasure in heaven. But an equally important truth contained in this verse is the fact that our hearts do follow our treasure. When we commit our treasure to accomplish the Master’s purposes, He is not only pleased, but our hearts grow even more passionate for those to whom our treasure has been committed.

Ben is right to be cautious about always starting our own ministry, rather than contributing to those that are already working. But contributing should involve both direct involvement and indirect support. Doing both will only lead to further compassion for those whom the Lord loves, and a greater desire to give and serve.

This is a really interesting point. I’ve been thinking a lot about the phrase “He had compassion on them”. Even though God’s all-knowing, it seems like this phrase comes up when Jesus is in close proximity to the person his heart breaks for.

For me, when I give money, I realize that it’s out of a sense of obedience (or guilt), but many times not out of compassion. Giving money gives me a nice buffer to keep my heart from breaking while making me feel good about myself – something that shouldn’t be.

This question also makes me think of the topic of burdens, and how different the burdens are from God than those that we heap onto ourselves and each other. God has uniquely gifted each of us and put people in our lives for us to serve. I agree with Ben that there’s a balance between pursuit of service and being discerning about which things to do. I’ve seen people err on the side of doing too little and too much (becoming burnt out and just as ineffectual as those doing little or nothing, because their heart’s not in it).

In general, I feel like we might need to expand our definition of service to include all of our interactions–no matter how seemingly insignificant–with those God has placed around us.

I don’t think it makes sense to start a new ministry just because we are feeling a sense of guilt for having some free time. But I do think that we should probably be doing more than just passively sitting by, waiting for God (or others) to tell us what to do.

If you are being attentive to possible areas where you could serve then you will probably notice more times where you should.

The balance is probably somewhere in pursuing service but within wisdom and cheerfulness.