BE A SERVANT, NOT A CELEBRITY — HERE’S WHY
‘Instead he emptied himself of his outward glory by reducing himself to the form of a lowly servant. He became human! ‘ Philippians 2:7
When I was in High School, lunch was a big deal. It was that spot in the day where you just get to kick it and hang with your friends. It was the ultimate clique moment — and we were proud of our clique.
However, without fail, at the end of lunch, our principal would arrive. He surveyed the lunch area with those disapproving eyes and stance. He was a nice guy to us athletes, but he also was much stricter on us. He always kept us to a higher standard than everyone esle. We were all scared of him.
When lunch was just about to conclude, he would walk slowly near our table and remind us to put our trays away, clean our area and put our chairs away. We always shrugged him off, “yes sir, Mr. Van Duyne, we got it.”
But, the biggest remembrance of him, was when he would put his hands around his mouth (to amplify the sound) and he would give us what we call the “lunchroom motivation chat” and say — “be a servant, not a celebrity — clean your area up.”
Still today, I never forget those words — “be a servant — not a celebrity”.
In other words, he was teaching us to be responsible, clean our 💩 up — do our work and serve those around us. He wanted to ensure we never took serving for granted.
And what about Jesus — imagine his change of pace going from the right hand of the father to Earth to serve. He went from legions of angels at the sound of his voice and sipping pineapple slushi’s with little umbrella hats to teaching humans what it means to serve. Pretty stark contrast.
I love what Winston Churchill says about greatness:
The price of greatness is responsibility. — Winston Churchill
It takes responsibility to forge your future success. For us as high school kids, it started with us being responsible to clean our mess. Our principle ensured that us athletes would be required “more” with little to zero entitlement.
When Jesus came to Earth to serve it was not only his responsibility to serve but to teach servanthood. Greatness doesn’t just happen. It’s not a “big bang” theory — it’s f’n hard work.
He who is not a good servant will not be a good master. — Plato
Serving is a natural gift to me. I’ve watched both my parents serve in different capacities. My mom in particular, is crazy at serving. Even this week, she was picking up frozen pizzas to deliver them to food depository's in the Chicago area. She bascially gives the middle finger to “social distancing”.
My mom holds monthly lunches for widows. She wants to make sure they have community and she not only cooks for them but she also serves them. She makes them feel special. She makes them feel like they matter. She embodies the lifestyle of a servant and is a phenomenal example.
I’m lucky to be able to grow up with a family like that. But, I could just as easy say “that’s my mom’s thing — I’m not really into that sort of stuff”.
But I can’t, serving is for everybody. “Be a servant — not a celebrity.”
The other night, the kids were upstairs having a “special” movie night. They were both watching movies but I wanted it to feel special for them. So, I went up and pretended to be their waiter — to serve them. They ordered their dessert, I brought it up and CLEANED up (wtf was I thinking).
It felt a little over the top as a 7 year old and 9 year old gave me instructions — however, I wanted them to get a glimpse of servanthood as an adult. I know it seems dumb — but it was actually really fun for all of us.
Just uttering the words to them, “can I get you anything else? May I clean up for you”. And of course, their response was even better — “sure dad, thanks. Can we have more ice cream?” Which I responded with, “hell no, sorry guys, kitchen is closed. But, I love yah 😘.”
Who — the — f can you serve today? Or, what happens to your attitude when you are forced to serve? My dad used to always say, “the true measure of a servant is how you respond when you are treated as one.”
It’s one thing to serve. It’s another thing when people treat you like “the help”. But, that is exactly what Jesus did for us. He was treated like the f’n help. No respect, no honor, just a carpenter’s son. His response to the disrespect was pure servanthood.
I know I’m far, far from that response. But, I want to get better, I want to be a better servant. Maybe that’s you too today.
We can all get better. We can all serve.
Let’s pray:
Jesus, help me to serve more. Help me to be able to deal with people treating me like “the help”. I don’t like it but I want to be more like you. I know their is blessing in the serving. Teach me your ways. Amen.
