How Can I Help You – The Heart Of Servanthood

But Jesus called them to him and said, “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.” (Mat 20:25-28)

Imagine walking into a McDonald’s …

And at this point already I need to take a slight detour.  Sometimes these blogs are written on the day they’re published, sometimes they’re written sometime before.  On this occasion the idea for this blog came to me yesterday (Friday) after reading a portion of Reimagining Church by Frank Viola, which I’ll come back to later.  So I read it and the above scenario appeared to me, but I was then taken up with how we say McDonald’s.  Is it really McDonald’s?  Is McDonald with an ‘s’?  Is there an apostrophe?  If there is an apostrophe where is it before or after the ‘s’?  It’s a great grammar exercise and remember where the ‘s’ is points out who possesses and also might indicate how many possess.  Also I know we should be sceptical of things from Wikipedia, but I still love the place and so encourage you nip over and remind yourself of the history of the fast food franchise.

Also as another detour the relationship with fast food places is intriguing.  I get the whole thing that these places are not designed for healthy eating and should not be lauded or applauded for what they’ve done to the diets of a generation or two.  I get it.  But hey, I’ll still go there with the family as a treat from time to time.  It’s got it’s redeeming elements.  I obviously prefer Kentucky Fried Chicken (oh didn’t I tell you about the vegan thing being over, that will come in a forthcoming entry) for the chicken bit, but I think that the fast food franchises like KFC and McDonald’s have their place in the overall family economy.  This brings us neatly back to the first point I was making.

Imagine walking into a McDonald’s and putting your order in (mine would be the six chicken McNuggets, two large fries, the large burger (beef or chicken preferably) option without the cheese obviously and a large Coca-Cola, it’s the appetite I have, you see and old McD’s don’t do it like my Mum so a plate of me Mum’s food – which is for free – is the equivalent of probably two large meals from the place).

After you put in your order the attendant diligently and lovingly puts together that meal and even adding a bonus of your favourite dessert for free.  Once having done that they put together the package in a manner that’s warm and inviting and not only delivers it to you in a timely and conscious fashion but they also utter these words

“It’s been a pleasure serving you and I sincerely hope it proves to be of great use to you in your day today, is there any other way I can be of help to you?”

On being blown away by such genuine care and declining further assistance from this outlet you receive a loving hug and the warmest smile this side of eternity.

Well of course that’s a dream, isn’t it?  I mean customer care goes only as far as is necessary to ensure business runs smoothly.  In as much as the ethos is for the customer to be at the centre of the project, there is something contrived about paying someone to look out for what you want be able to sustain such interest and consistent ‘service with a smile’ for that many hours a day.  It’s tough and that’s why it’s a business and that’s why we take it for granted unless we get shabby service.

Yet when I read what Reimagining Church asked me to … err … reimagine, I was reminded of that scripture at the top of this section.  Jesus doesn’t do what He does for any other payment than the approval of His Father and the knowledge that the Family is getting back together.  So we have the compassion of Christ rolling over into the serving spirit.  What a picture.  What a picture.  (Of course at this stage you think of the Tommy Steele classic Flash, Bang, Wallop and take the advice to stick it in the family … album.)

In essence that which the retail industry expects its employees to convey in giving the paying customer the product they desire is actually a deeper motivating factor for true church life.  I recall some of my favourite memories of what StokeCOG meant to me and remember that servant heart that allowed the members to put things together that impressed many with the love of God evident in their serving.  Whether a community do or a church party there was a sense of clubbing together to let the recipient they were loved and valued.

Deeper still, though, the example and the church life that is envisioned in scripture gets to the heart of the mentality – how can I help you?  A sincere compassion driven desire that is essentially self-less.  It’s actually anathema to natural man, because the service industry is based on the selfish needs of the consumer, whereas the Christlike servant heart is not about living in a consumer driven world, but turning people towards how they are created to be.  That’s why the church is the best example of that in action, because as Christ fills out hearts we are desperate to serve others with what we’ve been given to serve – our gifts are used in service to the Lord and others.

That mentality doesn’t lead to one up-manship, as the context of Jesus’ statement shows.  It goes against a hierarchical system where people look to be served because of position and instead sees those ahead as those who choose to serve others.  They literally understand that it’s not about feeding egos, but feeding the hungry.  Looking to meet the need that you see.  That is powerful.

I am a recipient of that mentality (that you God and StokeCOG and that whole Stoke life) and thus have an even more passionate desire to see that mentality rooted in the personal source of Jesus Christ and then shared among others.  We don’t serve in the same way.  Some of us are discreet and understated in our serving.  No big deal to them, but when they are not there the gap is huge.  They know what is needed and meet that need as a service to God and to their fellow man.

I so desirous to see that at the heart of church and that it also seeps into a church life not focussed on individuals and positions, but that overwhelming desire to serve others with the songs God has given.  This would see us eager to give words of encouragement God has given, the food God has given, the precious moments God has given, so that others may be enriched with the things God has given and likewise can be inspired to join in the serving heart.  That heart that is desperate to help you in answering that golden question.

How can I help you?

Just wondering.

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

dmcd