I’ll be gone for a youth camp I’m helping out in Union Church over the Holy Weekend. I wasn’t supposed to say yes to it anymore because I just wanted to get some rest, but after talking to the camp director, I just realized that I had to do it. She said that she believes I could teach these kids about service, by showing them at the camp how it is to serve. I’m not going to speak at a session, but I’m going to lead by example.

I wanted to tell her that she’s got the wrong girl. That all I wanted in the world is to just sit on my butt and have everything brought over to me. I want to be the center of attention every time. I want to be taken care of. I want a driver to drive me around. I want a man to worship the ground that I walk on. I want everything to come easy and fast so I wouldn’t have to work or wait.

Even as I am writing this, I know how wrong that sounds. Hahaha. I guess that’s why I said yes to the camp. I guess I have a lot to learn about being a servant too– by being one, and by being accountable to the dozen+ volunteers that I’m supposed to supervise in the three day camp. So I suppose that’s why I said yes.

Right now, I’m thinking about Jesus, who, in the night when all the authority of heaven has been given to him, took a towel, wrapped it around his waist and knelt down to wash his disciples’ feet. The Son of God doing the lowliest of the tasks for a servant–a job nobody wanted to do– to show His disciples that this how they should be to one another. (John 13: 1-20)

This is His brand of love. And the world would know that we are his disciples by how we love each other. Pride and arrogance will tear us apart, the desire to be recognized for our service is going to ruin us. But Jesus’ love builds each other up.

Of course, it’s not literally washing each others’ feet. But it’s the spirit of humility and willingness to put others first before ourselves. It doesn’t look good most of the time, and the world’s not going to understand it, but this is how it is. We are not performing for the world (even if we do know that they’re watching us), but we’re serving God. We can’t just look the part, we have to be it.

I guess what I want to say is that I pray that we Christians would take on the heart of a servant. To be willing to go the extra mile for each other and others, to go beyond our comfort zones to reach out to people. To be the solution. To serve, even when nobody is watching.

I know that it feels good to be recognized by what we do. The applause and standing ovation is cool. The accolades are just super. But that’s not what Jesus called us to.

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Eph. 3:10)

Just think of our Father in Heaven, smiling at us as we go about the work of the Kingdom here. There may be no medals in the immediate future, I just want one thing– that when it’s time for me to go home and stand before Him, I would hear my Father say, “Well done.” That would be more than enough for me.