Service

Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

John 13:3-5 (NIV)

In Jesus’ day, people’s feet would become very dirty as they walked on dusty roads in sandals. When people entered others houses, if the host had a servant, the servant would bend down and wash the feet of those who were visiting. As such, it was a surprise to the disciples when Jesus, the Messiah, bent down and began to wash the disciples’ feet. Peter initially refused the act but quickly obliged when Jesus responded, “Unless I wash you, you have no part in me (John 13:8).” To this, Peter, who was often enthusiastic, asked that Jesus wash even more than his feet.

Jesus command here is not just to Peter, nor the early disciples, but to everyone who is a disciple of Christ. If we are to have any part of Him, we are to accept His sacrifice on our behalf. If we do not accept that He died upon the cross for our sins and receive the forgiveness granted from this action as if we were little children, we have no part in Him.

After washing his disciples’ feet, Jesus instructed them to follow his example. If we are followers of Christ, we are to serve others (John 13:12-17). The primary act of Christian “leadership” is Christian “service.”

As Charles Spurgeon, in his commentary on Matthew 5:17-20, writes: “By good works, we best shine before men. True shining is silent, but yet it is so useful that men, who are too often very bad judges, are yet forced to bless God for the good which they receive through the light which He has kindled.”

Service as leadership

When I was around 19 or 20 and was serving in the Navy, I recall one ordinary working day in which we were keeping ourselves busy but there wasn’t a lot going on. Our Chief (E-7), came into our workspace, grabbed a bucket and went back into the hallway without saying a word. When I left our workspace a few minutes later to go on a break, he was in the hallway scrubbing the walls. We had all probably noticed the walls in the passageway, which was our responsibility, were dirty and none of us raised a finger to take care of it. Our Chief, seeing the mess, cleaned it up without saying a word to anyone.

During my career, I have noticed that the leader who cleans up the mess themselves when they have the time generally leads better in all areas than the leader who tells someone else to clean up the mess when they see it. I presume this has something to do with the leaders’ inner attitude toward others. The leader who will take care of a task themselves when they can rather than tell someone else to do it or ignore it, is more likely to see others as equal to themselves.

Opportunities for service

We all have opportunities to exercise service in our lives. In our work, we can go above and beyond our normal job tasks to do things to take some of the burden from our peers, supervisors, or those who report to us; this is service, especially when we will not benefit from it either directly or indirectly.

There are other opportunities in our lives to serve beyond the workplace. It is my belief that being part of a church is critical to Christian growth and most churches can connect us with paths to service. If we are not connected to a church because we have trouble finding one that meets our needs, then we are probably too focused on ourselves. We are to attend church because it symbolizes the body of Christ and we all have our functions in the body in accordance with our gifts. Last summer, my wife, Rita, and I considered leaving our church because the number of children had dwindled over the years and, following the pandemic, there was no longer a Bible Study class for the children. Our older daughter, Nicole, complained every Sunday because church was “so boring,” and we were having trouble keeping Milana, who was three years old at the time, still throughout the service. We were also becoming discouraged.

We attended several other churches and found a great church in a different denomination that had a great Sunday School class, which the children enjoyed, but Rita and I felt we needed to go back to the church we had attended for the last eight years. Consequently, we decided to go back but, instead of settling not having a Bible study, we decided to re-start it ourselves. My family and the other families have been blessed, but I think that I have been blessed more than anyone else because my spiritual growth, joy, and faith have increased significantly during this time.

May we all continually seek God’s will to identify for us where he is calling us to serve and grant us the faith and willingness to listen to His call.