Work with enthusiasm, as
though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the
Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or
free~ Ephesians 6:7-8 NLT
Every fall, beginning
in late October or early November, I begin a study of the Gospels in an effort
to prepare myself spiritually for the upcoming Christmas season. Please don’t
misunderstand: I am no spiritual super hero. In fact, I’m just the opposite.
I put myself through this yearly routine because
I have learned that I have a rather carnal tendency to get caught-up in the
more secular, “sparkly” side of Christmas. In a usually futile effort to battle
my fleshly inclinations, I begin the process of focusing on Jesus long before
the gaudy light displays and frosted Christmas cookies have a chance to steal
away my attention completely.
This year I dove into
the book of Luke around mid-October. About halfway through I was struck with a
realization that had nothing at all to do with Christmas. It slowly dawned on
me that Jesus spent a great deal of time
doing something I and many others spend a lot of time talking about. Jesus spent a lot of time serving.
Among many in our culture, serving is a foul word. Serving is for
the insignificant and irrelevant, those not worthy to be served. Among this
crowd, serving another person is the equivalent of acknowledging that they are
superior.
If you want to see an illustration of this attitude
and an unfettered display of rage, walk
up to a random gathering of women and propose that they begin serving their
husbands. If you walk away from this little experiment unscathed you should count
yourself fortunate. At the very least you will have some very colorful language
directed at you.
Among Christians, the
whole concept of serving is something we spend a great deal of time debating
and discussing. The number of books available on the topic demonstrates this. A
quick search on the website Christianbook.com returned a total of 5,215 books
that have been written on the subject of serving in recent years.
Interestingly, Jesus had very little to say about serving. I discovered a grand
total of seven unique statements made by Jesus on the subject (Matthew 4:10,
20:28, Luke 12:37, 16:13, 22:27, John 12:26. Rather than talking about serving,
Jesus served. He showed us, rather than told us, what faithful service looks
like. Jesus’ first recorded miracle was an act of service (John 2:1-11) as was
his last (John 21:6). But even with all of our talk and the strong emphasis
Jesus so obviously placed on serving, there are still many myths surrounding
the subject that Christians have bought into including…
Some people don’t
deserve to be served~
This is probably the
most tenacious, carnal and un-owned myth regarding the subject of service.
There is an inclination among many (myself included) to do a quick mental assessment
of a person before serving them. We evaluate their level of neediness,
attitude, and the likelihood of reciprocation and spiritual conversion before
we make a move. If we deem them truly needy, likely to reciprocate and/or
convert we do what needs to be done. Conversely, Jesus served people who were
ungrateful (Luke 17:17), unlikely to convert (Luke 7:1-10) and those who were
incapable of offering Him anything in return (Luke 7:11-17).
Overseas mission
trips are the really significant service opportunities~
The number of
Christians who will pay enormous sums of money to go to a foreign country to serve
strangers never fails to amaze me. Oftentimes these same people will return
home and recoil at the notion of serving their spouses, teaching Sunday school,
volunteering locally, assisting in the church nursery or preparing a meal for a
member of their church. I don’t believe that there is anything inherently wrong
with overseas mission trips, as long as they serve a purpose and don’t devolve
into field trips to look at poor people. But if we are going to serve like
Jesus served it will mean making service a lifestyle rather than one big event.
Serving should be
convenient~
There is little in
this world I love more than a well thought out plan. I have learned that God
has little regard for my agenda and His plans for my service are rarely
scheduled in advance. God’s service opportunities always seem to come at the
most inconvenient times, like late at night or when I’m in a hurry. They come
in the form of lonely teenagers who need to talk, or strangers who need
something to eat, or young Mothers who need a break from the stress of parenting.
Jesus was always willing to ditch the plan and make time for people (John 3:1,
4:7-19, Luke 5:12). I’m slowly learning that this is the essence of authentic
ministry.
We need to make sure service
is more than simply a talking point in our lives because serving others changes
us. Service breaks the stranglehold of selfishness that we all struggle with;
it opens the door to witness to our friends and neighbors. Service increases
our significance and empowers us to leave a lasting mark on this world. Serving
people is also the surest way to enter into the presence of God and it makes us
look a whole lot more like Jesus.
Each of you should use
whatever gift you have received to serve
others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms~ 1st
Peter 4:10 NIV
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