Not Optional

Love God. Love Others.

One of the great take-aways that I have received from Cornerstone has been the “Up, Out, and In” principle of love. Loving God is upward, loving others is outward, and loving ourselves is inward. These are intrinsically tied to one another; loving God requires loving others, and loving others requires a love of self (not to be confused with worship of self, which is sinful). As for my history, I genuinely try to love God with a grateful heart and strive to love others better. But learning to love and be kind to myself has been a long process.

The postures and practices of loving “Up”, “In”, and “Out” can be found in the words of Jesus himself: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind”, and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mat. 22:35-40). You don’t have to look very far to see that loving God and loving others requires the act of service. You may be familiar with the beginning of Romans, Chapter 12: “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship”. 

The words “spiritual worship” (ESV)“ or “reasonable service” (NET) are translated from the Greek word latreia; a service of worship. Notice how worship and serving are tied closely together. These two words can be translated interchangeably at times. Let’s consider this as we look at the connection between loving “Up and Out” and serving “Up and Out”.

Weak Serve. Puny God.

When we serve and meet the needs of one another, we are literally representing the character of God. We serve because Jesus serves (John 13: 3-15). So, when Christians struggle to serve, help, and assist others, the world may mistakenly blame God, claiming that He also struggles to carry out acts of goodness. Our lack of serving welcomes the view that God does not serve. It becomes rational for the lost to believe that Jesus does not meet or fulfill any real, tangible needs of humanity. In this way, our reflection of God’s character onto the world could make Him look weak, disinterested, or altogether fake. 

On the flip-side of serving to meet real needs, our acts of service should not be a chaotic, frantic, and life-sucking work either. Lending a hand and helping on the spot is needed sometimes– that’s tending to the needs of others. But we should be careful not to get caught in a constant, manic cycle of volunteering and serving. That may be more like the serving we encounter with Martha in Luke 10:38-42, who “was distracted with much serving” and Jesus himself tells her “you are anxious and troubled about many things”. I’ve been there before, overextended and needing rest, while trying to serve. This is likely a sign that we have not discipled others to help perform the service that we are so passionate about. Others need to serve too—you are not alone.

Sheep In. Sheep Out.

Sheep show up all over the Bible. They are used as metaphors in parables in both the New Testament and the Old. They appear many times as related to the occupations of people throughout Biblical history accounts. There are some very important things to know about herding sheep in a Middle Eastern setting; sheep don’t live their lives in the sheep pen, and sheep know the voice of their shepherd. Sheep are penned only temporarily for rest. Every other minute of their lives is following the sound of their shepherd as they are guided to food, pasture, and safety.

Comfort is an obstacle to living and serving the way we should. Sometimes it is easy for us to get caught up in routines or actions that make us the most comfortable. When we do this, we become blind to ways that we could serve better. In other words, we become apt to stay in the pen instead of following our Shepherd as He calls us out. It is true that sometimes serving others requires spontaneity, as guided by the Spirit. We should go where the Spirit leads us, meeting the needs of others and letting them meet the Shepherd who is our guide.

Serve Out. Listen Up.

Not all service is performed by physical acts. Listening is an act of service. It too requires the intentional fulfillment of other’s needs to be heard, seen, and valued over your own thoughts, desires, and opinions. Have you ever noticed that some people just won’t listen to anything you have to say? We may want to check ourselves to see if we are extending the courtesy of hearing first. 

Allowing another to talk or express themselves is an act of service. All of us can do this, and we should all participate. Those of us that have physical limitations and feel like we can’t serve another person because we can’t even serve ourselves—your willingness to listen could do a world of good. You may even move barriers and burdens that could never be lifted or moved by hand.

Do Good. Bear Fruit.

Consider this—if our service to God by serving people only includes things that we are comfortable with, is it really an act of service? If we find ourselves thinking that we are too good, too clean, or it is too risky to serve the needs of another, perhaps we are fooling ourselves that we are good at all. That lack of motivation and empathy to help others comes from selfish pride, not humble pure hearts. In Philippians 2:3-8, Paul pleads that the church body would, “...do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” to have the mind of Christ Jesus, who “humbled himself” by “taking the form of a servant”. 

Humility is required to serve well. The Gospels state that: “The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve” (Mat. 20:28, Mark, 10:45). If our Savior came to serve others (even us!), how could we dare think that it is beneath us to serve others also? Like the parable of the weeds where good grain will be known by the fruit it produces, so too will “sheep” will be known by their fruit of caring for others (Mat. 25:31-40, 13:24-30). Serving isn’t optional, it’s fundamental!

Holy God, help us to serve you and reflect you better as we serve the needs of others.