Learn to Serve

When Jesus took the time to explain His reason for coming among us, He was simple and direct. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Interestingly enough He did not come to be served, to grab the spotlight, or to draw attention to Himself. He simply came to serve. This concept was one of oddity in the world to which Jesus came. And although centuries have passed we still find the same challenges today. The reason being, serving doesn’t come naturally. Far too common is the age old problem that can be summed up with four words—I, Me, Mine, Myself. We are consumed with ourselves and make every effort to “look out for number one.” If we admit it we would have to say we live in an age of gross selfishness—the “me” era. As difficult as it was Jesus saw it to be his mission to eradicate this kind of thinking while teaching his disciples as well as us that being a servant is what Godly living is all about. It was the distasteful desire to be number one that led Jesus to rebuke James and John telling them that the position of first place only came with certain consequences. “Whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.” He was in essence saying your role in the world is not to be lords but servants. The same holds true for us today. We are called into the family of God to render service. But something begins to happen to us as it did to the disciples when we experience a sense of success, feeling that we have reached celebrity status. We begin to take on a spirit of entitlement, expecting to be served rather than to serve. However, what we must understand is that the only way to be sovereign is to be a slave and the way to the top is to live at the bottom, rendering a life of service which is the only way to fulfill God’s true intention for our lives. “The Son of man came to serve” and so should we!