serving

This is Jesus, talking to His disciples one day...

 Luke 17

7 "When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, 'Come in and eat with me'?

8 No,

he says,

'Prepare my meal,

put on your apron,

and serve me while I eat.

Then you can eat later.'

9 And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do?

Of course not.

10 In the same way, when you obey me you should say,

'We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.'"

We in the white, middle class, evangelicals have such a success orientation toward servanthood.

We think if we are “servants of the Lord” then we are guaranteed success, as the world sees it.

We think that being “servants of the Lord” is glamorous.

We also think that as “servants of the Lord” we should be afford by God an explanation of what is going on in our areas in which we serve.

And we think as “servants of the Lord” we should be praised for it & garner certain “perks” as part of the glorious sacrifce(s) we make to be servants.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Being a servant is not glamorous,

nor guaranteed success in the eyes of the world,

nor praise for being so servile,

and often as not we will be clueless as to what our serving is all about.

I'm always a little suspicious when someone says in some sanguine tone,

“all I want to be is a servant of the Lord...”

That usually means they've never been one.

So what am I trying to say?

Serving the Lord in whatever ways He indicates is our reasonable response to the infinite love, mercy, & grace that He has extended towards us.

Pure & simple...

Servants don't get to know the “why” of their serving – they just serve.

Servants are guaranteed success – in fact, it may look like failure under the measuring stick of the world.

Serving doesn't come with a list of entitlements.

And we seldom get the opportunity to choose who or what, when, where, or how we will be serving.

We serve because God indicates He has tasks for us to undertake.

Think about all that...