In His Service

I practically grew up on a church camp. Whether it was Butler Springs as a young child with my dad in southern Ohio, or going to Mountain View in Dansville, New York where I decided to follow Christ, or going to church camps all over Western Pennsylvania and the entire state of Ohio with my Dad as the missionary, or spending my Jr. High and High School camps at Round Lake and coming forward to commit my life to youth ministry, church camp was always an everpresent source of spiritual growth for me. It was also where I first spread my wings and found a place where I could serve.

Throughout my High School years, I would spend three weeks a summer at Round Lake Christian Assembly serving in various ways. I would volunteer for a Jr. High week and work in the dish room washing dishes after every meal and setting up or tearing down tables and chairs, mopping floors, and taking out the trash.  I would volunteer as a team leader and dorm parent for younger kids’ weeks. I would take on a group of 10 to 15 children and help them with memory verses, chat about lessons they’ve learned, and do all the fun stuff with them; swimming, going out on boats, game times….. you name it. I would do anything to get more time at camp. For me, it was my chance to do ministry and serve, but it wasn’t because of my parents or my youth group. This was my personal decision and opportunity to find my own place in God’s Kingdom. It’s what eventually led me to full-time ministry.

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Matthew 20:25–28

“Service” is becoming a foreign word these days. The idea of serving others above yourself doesn’t hit like it used to. We’ve become a “me first” society that wants instant gratification and if we don’t get it, we’ll go online and let the world know how we have been wronged by someone’s poor treatment of us. And, while posting that, we are doing the exact same thing, because we’re really only thinking of ourselves. This mindset is in complete opposition to what Christ said in Matthew 20:25-28. Jesus tells His disciples that, “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.” This is impossible if we are filled with selfishness. If we want to know the heart of a true servant, we don’t need to look any further than Jesus.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Philippians 2:3–8

The kind of service that we see from the life of Christ is so far beyond what we see anywhere else. It doesn’t matter if it’s in scripture or if we look at the lives of saints throughout the years. Christ served right up until death. He knew His life would be short-lived. He knew His ministry wouldn’t last even half a decade. That didn’t sway Him from giving every ounce of everything He had to serve His Father. In just a few short years, Jesus started a revolution that became a movement that became the Church. He showed that selfless, not selfish, ambition could change the world. Through love, first for His Father, then for us, He moved the hearts and souls of the people of His time and every time to come. He healed, taught, discipled, and even rebuked those around Him, and they were eternally changed. Then He gave us the ultimate gift, His own life. He became sin, so we could be forgiven of sin. He didn’t come down from on high to flaunt His majesty. He didn’t hold His Lordship over our heads to put us constantly in our place. He came humbly. He came in love. He came as a servant. 

This is the way. We should never come in haughty or feeling “holier than thou” when it comes to our lives and how we serve. We should come in humility, simply because we get to serve on behalf of the King of the Universe. We represent the Creator, God Himself, and we are to be seen as His emissaries and ambassadors. Just that alone should feel humbling to us.

We should serve in love. How can we look at people who are the creation of God, his children, and not love them? Yes, some people can be very frustrating, but imagine how much each of us has frustrated God. To truly love like Jesus, we need to put aside our personal thoughts or feelings and love others for who they are made to be. Without love, we will find service to be very difficult.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
1 John 4:11–12

What is one of the best ways to show God’s love and be an example of that love? Service. As ambassadors for and disciples of Christ, we should long to serve like He served. The phrase, “Christian” literally means “little Christ”. We should be emulating Him so that’s what people see when they look at us.

“A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.”
Luke 6:40

In everything, let’s strive to be like Christ, not looking out for ourselves, but for others. Let’s flip the script on this selfish generation that sees “self” as most important and become a selfless generation that sees just how life-giving service can be. This isn’t service for our benefit. It’s technically not service for others’ benefit. As Christ-followers and disciples, we do this so we can be in His service.