by Joel Mark Ellis, Jr.
All of us will readily acknowledge that we have a responsibility to serve others. The Lord Jesus made it clear time and again in His ministry. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you” (John 13:14-15). If we wish to be considered great in the kingdom of God, we must serve other people.
What may make us uncomfortable, however, is the feeling that to fully follow what Christ commands will place us in a vulnerable position, ready to be exploited by our fellow-men. After all, Jesus said, “I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away” (Matthew 5:39-42). Doesn’t that sound like someone who will be taken advantage of by those he seeks to help?
Perhaps our problem is that we are ready to serve, but not to become a servant. As long as I am choosing to serve others, I remain in control. I decide who, what, when, where, and how I will help other people. But when I become a servant, I lose the control I so anxiously protected before. Now I must submit myself to the needs of others, even when they are the least preferable, inconvenient, and most inglorious opportunities for service. Jesus did not call us to choose service when and where we pleased. He said, “Give, and it will be give to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38). Do we want God to give to us as we have give to others? Do we hope that He will give as selfishly as many of us may sometimes give, rendering aid only when it is convenient?
There is a fundamental difference in attitude between selfishly scheduled service and selfless slavery to the purpose of God in ministering to others. The selfish server commends himself for his sacrificial humility in ministering to others (cf. Luke 18:11-12 -- "The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 'I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.'). The selfless slave sees himself as merely performing his duty to those he esteems better than himself. “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:3-5).
Jesus didn’t serve our needs when He found it easy to do so; He chose to become a servant and to take upon Himself the awful burden that we could never bear. Now He calls each of us to willingly choose to do the same. Yes, it will sometimes (oftentimes-?) be inconvenient. Yes, from time to time we will be taken advantage of, our goodwill exploited by those we sought to help. But in suffering these minor grievances, we will be following in the footsteps of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For each one shall bear his own load” (Galatians 6:2-5).
~via “The Messenger”; East Columbus church; Columbus, MS; 5-21-06