Serving leaves a lasting impression

As I reflect upon the important things in life one issue always returns to mind. It is the issue of serving. Now some like to dress up the serving idea and call it things like having a "servant's heart" or some fancy little Christian phrase like that. The truth about serving however doesn't need to have a cute phrase to describe it or anything of the sort. The truth and issue behind serving is simple, it is raw, and at it's core it is powerful.

I often believe Christians are guilty of making simple issues complicated. Long before I had my MA in Biblical Exegesis I knew that the additional Bible knowledge that I learned there could never dwarf or overthrow the content and message that could always be mined in a simple English version of the text. You see, the message that Jesus calls us to live isn't difficult to decipher or hard to understand, it is simply hard to live. It goes against a human sinful will, and there requires an endless struggle within one's own self. It's not that the message is unable to be understood, it's that it's far too understandable and costly to live out. The human hides and lies, and makes excuses for choosing not to follow the simple message.

There is one example of simple understanding of the Bible's call to serve that will always leave an impression on me. It comes from a brilliant mind that was wise enough to mediate on the simple message that every 1st grader learns. It's simply to put others before yourself. But that little message often times refuses to hit home. It's that simple message that will make seemingly wise and important people look absolutely stupid at the end of time when everyone's work is exposed. You see why I will ultimately remember this brilliant mind, who was also one of my most influential college teachers does not pertain to what he taught but how he lived.

The day I remember clearly is when this college professor took a group of students to a mentally challenged facility. It was freshmen orientation week for all the incoming students, and that particular afternoon was community service and getting to know the area around Green Bay a bit better. I get to the location and some of the students were acting really immature about the situation and poking fun at the whole ordeal. Well, my professor gets off the bus, gathers instructions from the person in charge, and says he'll do whatever service needs to be done. He goes to the flower bed to plant and pull weeds. As he rolled up his sleeves that day and got down in the dirt, I realized that he and any Christian that knows what it means to be a servant has spent many years learning the lesson of what it means to put others first. The message of servanthood doesn't baffle the mind, but it does pierce the heart.