Serving Others

Philippians 2:7, " But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:" (KJV)

 

The idea of serving others runs contrary to the attitude of many who live among us in our present world. We live in a world of "me" and what is "best for me." Culture has even created a new term to describe this phenomena; it is called "selfie." This word was developed as more and more people enjoy talking about themselves, sharing pictures of themselves and even going as far as to describe many of their personal activities through the various social media outlets. This blog is not so much concerned with warning us about the challenge of social media  but I am more interested in reinforcing the positive manner that Christ gave to us an example of a servant when He came into this world. I will have to discuss "selfishness" versus "selflessness" in a future post as the Spirit directs.

 

The writings of the Spirit through the hands of Paul came into my mind during an adult Discipleship class last night. We were discussing the third Missionary journey of Paul. The life of the Apostle Paul has always intrigued me but the presentation challenged me to focus on his actions of serving others. But his service was not just through his words, sermons, letters, or teachings. The life of Paul revealed his personal desire and not just a professional desire to serve the family of God. He was not being paid to serve; as a matter of fact the Word reveals that he paid a dear price to be able to serve the family of God. The Apostle Paul was not a "selfie"! The Apostle Paul was a servant who had encountered Christ, the example of servanthood and his life had been eternally impacted and transformed.

 

The lesson that was presented challenged me to ask questions of myself. Am I true servant who serves for the right purpose? Do I truly care more for others than I do for myself? Is my life about me or is my life about serving others? How large is my ego? What truly matters in my life? I will stop with my personal list of questions. But I do encourage you to take a look at your role of servanthood. The church does not have positions to fill which promise to bring you stardom and attention but the church does have positions open which promise to bring you opportunities to serve others. Oh, the joy of serving others as we walk the road of life. Let us lay off the garments of selfishness and take up the garments of selflessness and service!!