Guest Post: The Paradox of Serving

Person A: Let me buy that meal for you!
Person B: No! I couldn’t ever do that! I have plenty of money.
Person A: Are you sure? I’d love to pick up your tab today.
Person B: No, I won’t let you do that. Thanks for the offer though.
Person A: Of course.

What is service anyway? If you call yourself a Christian, you’ve probably heard the word “serve” or “service” or “servant leadership” more than any other phrase (which is a good thing by the way). But we say it so much and do it little. So what is service? Dictionary.com says that it is “the act of a helpful activity.” Simple enough for everyone to grasp. The degree of service from one person to another can vary, but the act is the same: help someone else. The heart is that they don’t deserve it and they didn’t earn it. It is an act without returns for the server.

I’ve noticed, however, what I would call a phenomenon amongst Christians, or at the very least the environment that I live in. Sometimes, it’s not that Christians won’t serve, but they refuse to be served by others. There are moments where I try to buy something for someone or do some act for someone, only to have them deny my offer and do it themselves. To my great dismay, I am unable to serve someone because they won’t have it. Whether they are uncomfortable with the “debt” that they acquire or they are just too independent to let someone else help them, I literally am denied an opportunity to serve someone else. Out of these frequent experiences comes a mantra:

Sometimes, the best way to serve is to let yourself be served.

I can’t tell how many times I’ve said this. By allowing someone else to serve me, should the time arise, I afford them an opportunity to let the grace of God come through them. By accepting service from others, I afford them the opportunity to give of what God has given them! Were I to be too independent or self-reliant, I would take this moment and gift from them. There is truly gifts in giving. On a given day, this may be the greatest opportunity for service I have, to be served. It could be the most helpful to that individual to just receive from them.

Here’s what I’m afraid of. I worry that our inability to receive from each other points to our inability to receive what Christ has done for us. The gospel isn’t for the people who can do it themselves, it isn’t for the people who are independent, and it isn’t for the people who are, dare I say, too prideful to receive. Because the belief that we are self-sufficient is nothing but pride. The gospel is for “the bedraggled, beat-up, and burnt-out. It is for poor, weak, sinful men and women with hereditary faults and limited talents. It is for the sorely burdened who are still shifting the heavy suitcase from one hand to the other. It is for inconsistent, unsteady disciples whose cheese is falling of their cracker.” (The Ragamuffin Gospel, Brennan Manning)

The spiritual journey with Christ is moving from independent to dependent. It starts with accepting what Christ is doing for you (not that you deserve it, by the way, because you never will), and His love becomes the source for the love you serve with, the love that energizes you to help others, whatever the degree. “Jesus said, “It is not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick.” (Matthew 9:12) Sometimes the best way to serve Jesus is to let yourself become His object of affection.

Sometimes the best way to serve Jesus is to let Him serve you.

Jeffrey Wright loves foosball, sweet tea and a good pen. When he’s not serving as a YouthWorks staff busy leading hoards of teenagers through San Francisco, he can be found swing dancing, cheering on the Georgia Bulldawgs or searching the world over for the tastiest chocolate chip cookie. Jeffrey frequently records his thoughts on life, God and service on his blog at 12colon9.wordpress.com