Here to Serve

Here to Serve

What if we, God's people, shifted the way we treat people? What if we, God's people, stopped thinking about what people can do for us, God's people, and started thinking about what we, God's people, can do for them?

Oh, I know this is not anything new. Jesus has been telling us from the beginning that He saw people differently and that if we are going to be His people, then we should look at people differently. In fact, it was Jesus who said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:42-45, NIV)

That's what He said and that's what we know, but what if we started doing it? What if we started living like Him... here to serve, not to be served?

For instance, maybe we, God's people, could adopt the same policy as a popular Chick-fil-A whose employees are trained to say, "It's my pleasure." They take your order and say, "It's my pleasure." You thank them for handing you your sandwich at the drive-thru window and they say, "It's my pleasure." These people really act like it brings them pleasure to serve you. What if we, God's people, greeted people who come to our assemblies like it is our pleasure to have them join us?

Or, maybe we, God's people, should learn to treat strangers who came into our midst like a group of golfers were treated when we arrived at the FarmLinks Golf Club where every person we talked with asked, "Is everything okay?" "Is there anything we can do for you?" "We are really glad you are here?" "Let us know if there is anything we can do to make your stay here more enjoyable. We hope you'll come back to see us." What if we, God's people, made it obvious that we are glad when people visit our assemblies and made a point to tell them that we their time with us to be as enjoyable as possible, that we are really glad they are with us, and that we genuinely hope they come back?

Maybe we can learn something from the waiters and waitresses at one of our favorite restaurants, Maggiano's Little Italy, who work very hard to make sure that our dining experience is as good as it can possibly be. The workers are constantly scanning the patrons for an opportunity to bring more bread, refill a glass, clear away empty dishes, and make sure our meal is perfectly suitable to our tastes. They look for ways to serve. They don't wait to be asked and seldom make you wait for whatever you may need. What if we, God's people, looked for ways serve people? What if we stopped waiting for people to ask and making people ask, before we served them? What if we just served them? Whatever they want? Whatever they may need to make their experience as enjoyable as possible?

What if we, God's people, started trying to make one's encounter with Jesus and with His people an absolutely enjoyable experience? What if it became our goal to make "coming to church" such a positive experience that people would be talking about it days and weeks after? What if we went out of our way to treat people seeking to find Jesus like we really valued them, valued their time, and really wanted to help them find Him?

Maybe it is time we, God's people, imitated the One who came to serve. We too are here to serve.

Tom Norvell