“But it should not be that way among you. Whoever wants to become great among you must serve the rest of you like a servant. Whoever wants to become the first among you must serve all of you like a slave. In the same way, the Son of Man did not come to be served. He came to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many people.” – Mark 10:43-45 (NCV)
What does it mean to serve others? How has Jesus served you? How did Jesus serve people when he walked on earth? Do you know people who are great because they serve? What are they like? Do you serve others?
The following story is from Todd Urick, a member of First Presbyterian. Currently he and his family are serving as missionaries on the island of Eleuthera:
When moving to Eleuthera I carried with me the attitude of going to help the people of this 3rd world country. “I have so much, they have so little.” It is my job to help these impoverished people. At the beginning of every week the staff of Bahamas Habitat are given a list of things to get done by weeks end. It was a Wednesday evening when I was reviewing my list of things that still needed to be completed within the next two days when one of our new long term volunteers handed me a paper to read on the differences of fixing, helping and serving. This paper focused on not how can I help, but how can I serve. That next morning around 8am, I was getting started on my list of to-do’s that needed finished by the next day when one our staff members quickly found me and asked if I could go to the north part of the island, about 1hr 30 min. away and pick up a group of high school students and bring them back south past our settlement, which would be another 2 hours to attend a music workshop. Here’s the catch, they needed to be picked up by 10am. The first thing that crossed my mind was, I have so much to get done here at camp, neither these kids nor this workshop has anything to do with Bahamas Habitat and after calculating driving time for the morning and driving time to get these kids back home, over 6 hours of my day would be spent behind the wheel our giant green school bus hauling kids back and forth. After about a minute of deliberating and wondering why I had to be the one to do this, I was suddenly reminded by this little voice, “you are here to serve.” The receipts can be entered into quickbooks later, the bush waiting to be cleared will be here when I get back, the new screen doors aren’t going anywhere and can be hung tomorrow, but this opportunity to serve 32 high school students by getting them to this music workshop in which they could get instruction on playing guitar, drums, dance, etc... may never come again. So for the next 2 days I spent around 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the evening serving these students. I began relationships with some of these students that I guarantee will last a lifetime.
From this point on, anything that comes up that’s not on my daily to do list, whether it be building a desk for Emma’s teacher or repairing Ms. Whyte’s toilet, I willingly do with no hesitation knowing I am here on this earth to serve. Serving is different from helping. Helping is based on inequality; it is not a relationship between equals.
When you help, you use your own strength to help those of lesser strength. But to serve, we draw from all of our experiences. Our limitations serve, our wounds serve, even our darkness can serve. The wholeness in us serves the wholeness in others and the wholeness in life. The wholeness in you is the same as the wholeness in me. Service is a relationship between equals. No longer am I on Eleuthera to help these people, but to serve my brothers and sisters in Christ. We are all equal in our Father’s eyes. – Todd
For those who are disciples of Jesus Christ it can be no other way! We are children of God not to be served but to serve others. Pray today that you become great and you will soon discover where you can be of service.
With hope and joy,
Garrett
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