No extra credit

In the course of serving God day by day, we can get distracted by the apparently better or flashier service of others. I teach Sunday School to, usually two people but occasionally as many as four or five.  Sometimes when I visit a bigger church, I look at the huge list of Sunday School class offerings, broken down by age, sex, etc. I look down at my feet and think about how nice it would be to actually utilize all the extra things in my teacher's guide built in for larger classes. Does God give grades for the size or impressiveness of a class or a special group?  Does the person who cooks the meals for potlucks or brings the snacks for VBS get as much credit as the one who programs the music or performs a special or teaches a senior class? 

In Luke 17, we find the answer: no. We're all servants. Since our human efforts to impress God, even our good deeds are counted as dirty rags, (It's not what you do for Him, it's what He did for you) God isn't some teacher whom you can kiss up to and get a better place in the class.

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.  "Would any of you say to your servant, who had just come in from the field after plowing or tending sheep, ‘Come! Sit down for dinner'? Wouldn't you say instead, ‘Fix my dinner. Put on the clothes of a table servant and wait on me while I eat and drink. After that, you can eat and drink'? You won't thank the servant because the servant did what you asked, will you? In the same way, when you have done everything required of you, you should say, ‘We servants deserve no special praise. We have only done our duty.'"
Luke 17:5-10

Whatever we do for God, we're doing just what we're supposed to do. Billy Graham is just doing his duty, the church janitor is doing his duty; Paul was doing only his duty.  If your heart is in your service and you're serving God and people because you love them and not because you're trying to gain favor, then you're doing the right thing.