Poverty and Service, Part 5

"Right here we must see the difference between choosing to serve and choosing to be a servant. When we choose to serve, we are still in charge. We decide whom we will serve and when we will serve. And if we are in charge, we will worry a great deal about anyone stepping on us, that is, taking charge over us." :::Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline

I found that quote a few weeks ago and it struck me as very powerful. I had to think for a few moments about my own times of serving and realized that often I'm guilty of serving people but not really being willing to be a servant. By simply serving someone I hold back some of my personal pride, I reserve the right to be offended or injured. "When we choose to be a servant, we surrender the right to decide who and when we will serve. We become available and vulnerable." I like that.

And its true. I'm guilty and you may be too of choosing to serve in moments where it is convenient or when we schedule a trip to do so. It becomes a pain in the butt when we have a meeting to get to or dinner reservations or when we're dressed up. Have you noticed that you have special clothes for when you're going to serve? Stuff that can get dirty or "ruined" and things you don't care about. We'd never dream of wearing our nice stuff to serve. That would be foolish. If I drive by a lady with a flat tire on Sunday on my way to church I'll probably not stop (unless I'm especially convicted) because I don't want to screw up my nice clothes. But if its a saturday and I'm on my way to Lowe's to get some stuff I may be more willing because the investment isn't as great. I'm retarded like that.

Foster writes about this attitude in his book and found these amazing words from a favorite author of mine, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, from his book Life Together: "One who worries about the loss of time that such petty, outward acts of helpfulness entail is usually taking the importance of his own career too solemnly." I often define humility as not taking myself too seriously. Ironic how humility and service seem to go hand in hand.

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.....Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.....Who, made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant..."

"If any of you wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."
"No servant can serve two masters."
"Well done, good and faithful servant." More on that later......

Maybe the most convicting line in the chapter for me is in a section where he masterfully explains the difference between self-righteous service and true service, this one line about true service: "It can serve enemies as freely as friends."

You mean like Jesus? Yeah, man, you see, well, that's tough. I mean, I want to be there for a pal. I want to bend over backwards for a friend. But enemies? Serve them? That would be _____________. And you fill in the blank. And in that blank, we might just find why we don't really become servants.