Labor Day was meant to honor work, the dignity of labor and the worth of workers. But in reality, we’ve turned it into little more than a three-day weekend, a chance to grill burgers or get in one last summer trip before school starts. We forget the sweat and sacrifice of the people whose unseen labor keeps our lives running.

Sometimes that’s how we treat faith. We’ve polished it up, dressed it up, and turned it into something comfortable and convenient. But the gospel was never meant to be convenient. It was meant to transform.

Recently, The United Methodist Church adopted a new vision statement:

“The United Methodist Church forms disciples of Jesus Christ who, empowered by the Holy Spirit, love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously in local communities and worldwide connections.”

It’s a roadmap. A challenge to live differently in a culture that constantly tells us to put ourselves first.

Love Boldly

Scripture is clear when it says: “Above all, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:14). But love in our culture is often reduced to sentimentality—a Hallmark card or a Facebook like. Biblical love is far riskier.

Bold love means loving people who don’t look like us, vote like us, worship like us, love like us, or even like us at all. It means honoring the dignity of farmworkers, truck drivers, grocery clerks, fast food workers, and sanitation workers whose labor we depend on every single day but rarely acknowledge.

In a culture of polarization and contempt, bold love refuses to cancel people, refuses to dehumanize, refuses to look away from suffering. It sees the image of God in the refugee, the addict, the unhoused neighbor on the corner.

This is not easy. It goes against the grain of growing American individualism, which says, “Take care of your own and ignore the rest.” But Jesus never said that. He said, “Love your neighbor” and didn’t include any fine print.

Serve Joyfully

Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant… just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve” (Matthew 20:26–28).

In America, service often comes with a price tag. Politicians do it for votes, corporations do it for publicity, even churches sometimes do it for numbers. But joyful service is different. It’s done without fanfare, without bitterness, and without needing credit. In other words…leave the camera at home!

It’s the quiet work: changing diapers, driving a neighbor to the doctor, washing dishes, stacking chairs. These aren’t glamorous, but they are holy. They are the kind of service Jesus modeled when He knelt to wash His disciples’ feet.

Joyful service is radical because it challenges the culture of status and self-promotion. It says the greatest thing you can do isn’t climbing the ladder but stooping low in love.

Lead Courageously

Too many Christians have bought into the lie that leadership belongs only to the powerful, politicians, CEOs, and influencers. But the gospel disputes that. Leadership isn’t about authority; it’s about witness. If you follow Jesus, someone is watching your life. Your kids, your coworkers, your neighbors are all learning what faith looks like from you.

Courageous leadership doesn’t mean being loud. It means being faithful. It means refusing to let fear, fear of change, fear of politics, fear of the “other”, dictate our choices.

And it’s desperately needed today. Because American Christianity has often traded courage for comfort, trading the hard edges of the gospel for political talking points or cheap promises of personal blessing. We don’t need more Christians chasing power. We need disciples who will lead with truth, with compassion, with integrity, even when it costs them something.

Empowered by the Spirit

The good news is that don’t have to do this alone. The new vision statement reminds us that everything we do is “empowered by the Holy Spirit.”

Our bold love, joyful service, and courageous leadership doesn’t come from our own power. They come from the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. That same Spirit is alive in us, calling us to reject apathy, comfort, and fear, and to live as if God’s kingdom really matters.

Paul put it this way: “Always excel in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Your everyday labor, whether it’s at your job, at home, or in the church, is building the kingdom.

The Confrontation

If we take this vision statement seriously, it means we can’t keep living like we’ve been living. We can’t keep claiming Jesus with our lips while our politics, our spending, and our priorities look exactly like everyone else’s.

It means Christians have to stop excusing corruption and cruelty in leaders just because they promise us power. It means churches have to stop ignoring the poor and outcast while building bigger sanctuaries. It means disciples of Jesus have to put down the idols of nationalism, consumerism, and comfort, and take up the cross instead.

That’s what it means to love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously. It will not win you popularity points in American culture, or even in American Christianity. But it might just make you look like Jesus.

Closing Prayer

God of Spirit and truth, empower us to love when it’s costly, to serve when it’s unnoticed, and to lead when it’s hard.

Strip away our fear, our pride, and our idols.

Fill us with the courage of Christ, who loved boldly, served joyfully, and led courageously—even to the cross.

May our lives reflect His kingdom, here and now.

Amen.