Yeah, this is the problem with that mentality. If a "God" needs us to "serve" in the way we think of it, perhaps we should reconsider if it's actually who we think it is. This is another example of playing the linguistics game, because we have to remember that slavery and peasantry were normal in the ancient world; so phrases like "serve the Lord" undoubtedly invoked a different image in the minds of antiquity. And many of those terms can refer to any type of work, not just slavery or employment. Another problem is a lot of these "serve the Lord" types put so much emphasis on that that they forget how to do it.

Unfortunately social mammals have a strong primal desire for a ruthless dictator as long as it's in their favor. So a lot of people want a mean god who will exalt them and brutally slay and torment their enemies. Which is exactly why the writers of the Old Testament made up fake stories about genociding all the Canaanites and looting their land and goods (ironically it turns out they are Canaanites).