Do nothing from 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. | Philippians 2:3–4
As we go through the gospel of Mark, Jesus continues to show us that servanthood is an expression of power. As he rides into Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt, He is declaring that His kingship is authoritative, but also humble. He is going to redeem His creation through an act of giving Himself. All of this is a call to His followers to follow His lead, living a life that responds to the great gift of salvation by looking not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
This others-focused life is not just a nice way to live, but as Jesus has shown, is a sign of strength. To give is to acknowledge that you are provided for. To sacrifice for others is only possible because you have everything that you need. As you serve, you are not just being a servant, you are declaring that Jesus is enough. While it does not look powerful, living this way flows from a person who is fulfilled and content.
There have been a lot of comments made by theologians about what meeting a truly humble person would look like. CS Lewis famously said this:
Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him.
This is true, but I think that your biggest takeaway would be NOTHING. What I mean is, even as this person took interest in you and served you, there is a good chance that you would not notice them at all. You would look past them, searching for someone more impressive, as the humble person fades into the background. Not always, but a good deal of the time, we simply don’t notice people giving to us.
A perfect example of this is the church. Too often we think of the church as an institution that exists to serve us, as consumers. We judge whether or not the people are nice enough. Whether the building is clean. If the sermon is both serious and light (at all of the right moments). We critique the music. We measure the children’s program by safety and if our kids are engaged. We show up to studies and midweek teaching when it is worth taking time away from the rest of our life. In all of this, we are the focus and the church exists to provide us by what we want or need. There are a lot of people who leave churches because it just doesn’t have what they are looking for.
To get behind the scenes a bit offers a very different view of the church. On any given Sunday, before we ever sing a note, the music lead has selected the songs that we will sing based on the sermon text and the liturgy of the service. They also choose the Call to Worship. They enter this into our slide program. After they have practiced these songs on their own, they organize a band to play them in unison. By the time we lift our voices together, a lot of time and energy has gone into leading us in worship.
This is true of all of the parts of our service. We have Communion every week because someone purchases the elements, fills the cups and places them in the trays.
The offering gets collected, counted, deposited and our bills get paid because people do it.
Our children hear the gospel every week because someone plans the lesson. Teachers read through this and prepare to teach it. The registration person checks them in and watches the door to make sure no one comes in the building. Someone leads them in music. They get a snack because someone has thought about and bought one.
The buildings get cleaned every week. The trash all gets taken out. The paper towels and toilet paper get purchased and restocked (usually). The lawn gets mowed and the flower beds maintained. Lots of building issues get fixed.
We have slides for all of our events. An e-news goes out every week. A monthly event list gets passed out. Our website is updated regularly.
We have coffee because someone buys (or donates) it. It is brewed and cream/sugar/cups are put out. It gets cleaned up when the service is over.
After the service Sunday, I sat in on a meeting with the Youth team making plans for the next year. They were discussing how to best create a healthy youth culture, have hard conversations, and be examples for the young people of our church. They were solving problems and making sure the kids are discipled in the gospel. They give a ton of their time to build up and invest in other people’s kids.
This is in no way an exhaustive list (sorry anyone who did not get mentioned). The point is: the church is a large number of people giving of themselves to make sure that others are taken care of. Some of these things are done by paid staff, but not most of them. The church functions because there are people who count others more significant than themselves. And it is easy for all of it to just become normal. I know, because I miss it and I am right there in the midst of it. Sometimes, we only remember that all of these things are being done by members of the body when something goes wrong.
The perfect example of this is the slide person. We have verses on the screen and words to sing along with because someone comes early on Sunday morning, enters these into the computer program and pushes a button to advance the slide. Occasionally, the words are wrong and everyone looks up to see WHO is responsible. Every once in a while, the slide is a second late and we have to pause our singing to wait for it to advance. I personally love when this happens. These are the few times that we remember that it is a human being giving their time and energy that allows it to function the rest of the time. Our part is to not only serve, but to notice those who give themselves for us.
One of the best ways to do this is to participate in the life of the church: the potlucks, the studies, and the events, not just because you find them valuable, but because someone has spent the time to make these a reality. You should show up, not as a consumer who comes to take, but as a person that recognizes themselves as part of a body that exists to give. While those humbly serving are not doing it for recognition, it is disheartening to faithfully sacrifice for people who are not joyful recipients.
Lets not only be people who know how to give, but also those who show gratitude and support the work of others.