Why Do We Serve?

We are Jesus’ disciples, too. If we would be successful followers of his then we must be servants as well. The foundation of Christian life is service to God that is lived out in service to others. The focus of Christian ministry is love of God that is fleshed out in love for others. There is simply no way around this and we ought to be ashamed if we try to find one. Being a disciple means being a servant. Being what God regards as a great disciple means being what God regards as a great servant.

Such service is not first about us. Oh, it is in some way about us but the benefit to us comes around to us through the back door and it is best if we just keep it out of our minds. Why we do what we do matters. Think again of those aliens in the Twilight Zone story. They did good and helpful things for folks. They made sure they had plenty of food and they made an end of war on earth. But they did all of that finally for their own benefit. Let’s face if — no matter how well you are taken care of, it doesn’t matter if you’re going to be eaten in the end. It is not good enough for a Christian to do good things for people if our motive is self-centered. It is not good enough for a Christian to help folks if our goal is to use the people we help for our own benefit. It is not good enough for a church to have good and reputable ministries if our only goal is to make ourselves bigger and stronger and more respected.

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We don’t want to be like the disciples of Jesus of whom Lamar Williamson said, “The disciples have heard Jesus’ words, but they have the music all wrong. They still dance to the world’s tune.”2 To focus on ourselves and never to think about others is blatantly unchristian. To focus on others but always with an eye on what’s in it for us is more subtly unchristian, but it is unchristian nonetheless. The substance of Christian living and ministry is self-emptying, God-centered, other-focused, sacrificial service. It can be no other way.

And the rationale was given to the disciples and to us by Jesus himself: “For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” (v. 45). Jesus Christ, the Messiah of God and the Savior of the world, came not to be served but to serve. In the words of the great hymn quoted by Paul in Philippians, he “emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.” He emptied himself and came down to us in the Incarnation. And here he sought not glory. Instead, he healed the sick. He rescued the perishing. He washed feet. And, again quoting Philippians, “He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross.” That’s how far he went in his service. He died. He died so that we could be forgiven of our sins.