What If Your Spiritual Gift Is Doing the Dishes?

What Romans 12 teaches about serving-and why the person in the kitchen matters.

By Pastor John Erickson

If you've ever been part of a church event, you've seen two very different kinds of people.

Some people are in the center of the room having great conversations. They're welcoming people, telling stories, and generally being very visible.

Meanwhile, there's someone in the kitchen quietly washing dishes, restocking cups, and making sure the trash doesn't achieve structural independence.

Here's a question: which of those people is doing ministry?

The biblical answer is both.

Romans 12 teaches that spiritual gifts aren't limited to microphones, platforms, or obvious moments of inspiration. Sometimes the Spirit's work looks like noticing a practical need and meeting it.

Serving is a gift, not a consolation prize

In Romans 12:6-8, Paul lists different gifts given according to God's grace. Among them is serving.

The Greek word is connected with diakonia, service or ministry. It can describe ordinary acts of caring for practical needs. The term is also related to the word from which we get deacon.

So if you're the kind of person who sees an empty coffee pot and instinctively starts another one, you may be using a gift the body of Christ badly needs.

I think we sometimes underestimate this because it isn't glamorous. You don't usually receive a standing ovation for stacking chairs or giving someone a ride. There isn't much applause for the person who notices the bathrooms need supplies.

But what would happen if no one did those things?

Exactly. We'd discover how essential they are pretty quickly.

Jesus made service impossible to dismiss

In John 13, Jesus washes his disciples' feet. This was humble work, the kind of task that could seem beneath someone of importance.

Yet Jesus deliberately takes the role of a servant.

Imagine inviting someone you respect to your house, and before you know it, they start cleaning the bathroom. You'd probably try to stop them. "No, no, please, you don't have to do that!"

That's part of why Jesus' action is so striking. He shows that love is willing to stoop down and meet real needs.

Acts 6 also shows the early church organizing practical care so people weren't overlooked. Attention to ordinary needs is not a distraction from spiritual life. It is one way the church makes its love tangible.

This gift can free other people to use their gifts as well. When someone prepares a space, makes a meal, or solves a practical problem, they create room for conversations, teaching, prayer, and care that might not otherwise happen.

A gift can become a burden

Now here's where things become complicated.

People who love serving often notice every need. And because they can see the need, they feel responsible to fix it.

That can become exhausting.

Sometimes a servant-hearted person struggles to say no. Sometimes their own spiritual life gets pushed to the margins because they are constantly helping everybody else. Sometimes they begin to define their worth by how useful they are.

And if someone doesn't appreciate their work, or if they have to stop serving for a season, they feel lost.

Those are real risks. Being gifted to serve doesn't mean you are called to be permanently exhausted.

Remember Mary and Martha

Luke 10 describes Jesus visiting the home of Martha and Mary. Martha is busy with preparations while Mary sits listening to Jesus. Martha becomes frustrated, and Jesus gently draws attention to what Mary has chosen.

It would be a mistake to conclude that serving is bad. Jesus' entire life contradicts that. But it is possible to become so consumed with doing things for him that you forget to spend time with him.

I'm still learning how to help people with this. When I tell someone, 'Take a seat and just listen,' it can sound as though I don't appreciate what they do. That isn't what I mean. I want them to receive care, too.

I know that's hard to hear when you're the one keeping everything running. You may even feel guilty sitting down because you can see six things that still need to be done.

But your relationship with Jesus is not measured by how much work you manage to squeeze into a week.

Service should grow out of communion with him, not replace it.

The church needs servants-and servants need care

If you're someone who serves quietly, I want you to know that your gift matters. Those ordinary acts of love help the church become what it's called to be.

And if you lead people who serve, don't just thank them and immediately hand them another job. Ask how they're doing. Help them rest. Remind them that their value isn't tied to what they produce.

All of us need the humility to receive help sometimes. Even the person who can fix everything needs a community willing to care for them.

Maybe the next faithful step for you is to volunteer. Maybe it is to notice a need you've walked past. Or maybe the faithful step is to tell someone, "I need to take a break."

Both can be acts of trust.

Because the gift of service isn't really about doing dishes. It's about reflecting the heart of Jesus in the ordinary places where love is needed.