Learning about Servanthood from my 2-Year-Old.

This article first appeared in Victory By Grace, a monthly magazine published by Quentin Road Ministries of Lake Zurich, Ill.  The smallest daily events can open our eyes to new truth, whether in the personal, or business world.

      I was sitting in the front room enjoying a rare moment of stillness. My toddlers were playing in the den as I stole a few minutes to recharge before starting dinner.  Peace in a house with 2 toddlers was an uncommon treasure, and I intended to enjoy the eye of the storm as it passed.  Then from the den I heard the ‘Slap!’ of one pudgy hand against another.  My son snapped “No, sissy, that’s Mine!”  His words were followed by the thud of his sister hitting the floor.

       “That lull didn’t last long” I thought, pulling myself out a favorite overstuffed chair. My daughter’s whimpers broke into a bone chilling wail, and as I headed to the den, Joshua scurried past clutching his favorite toy, still declaring “Mine, Mine, Mine.”

      Life hadn’t been the same for our first born since Beth’s birth.  Josh had taken her arrival as intrusion of his personal space.  The problem was that Josh considered every inch of the house as his personal space.  As the only child for the first two years of life, Josh wasn’t sure about sharing center stage with his sister.  As a parent, and a child from a large family, I can understand his perspective. His unchallenged access to his mom and I was forever changed. He was a feisty, but relatively compliant child because all of his desires were met without question or intrusion as his mom and I enjoyed our first born. But as soon as his sister arrived, the territorial wars began.

      I wondered what triggered the change in Josh’s behavior. What caused the change from compliant to competitive? Why now, when his mom and I hoped for his cooperation did he choose to become the tyrant, prowling our home as if he were a jungle predator protecting his territory?  As I rocked Beth back to sleep, I discovered a few lessons that apply not only to toddlers, but to my life as adult.  At the heart of the issue is our own heart, and whether or not we have learned the gentle lessons of Servanthood.

Servanthood and Human Nature

      Human nature is often most clearly observed in toddlers. When unchallenged, and receiving the attention and care we want, we can be compliant and peaceful. But as soon as the boat gets rocked, our space is invaded, or we are called upon to give more than we expect, our latent toddler nature rears its head. We find all kinds of excuses to seek our own gratification rather than serve others. Our true selfish nature doesn’t appear when we get what we want – and those are the key words – get what we want.  Like josh, anyone can be compliant when live is full of joy and gladness.  It’s when we are pressed beyond our comfort zone that we discover how well we’ve learned servanthood’s lessons

      When asked to define servant hood, Rick Steele and Dan Penwell of AMG Publishers answered that Servanthood is helping others without respect to personal cost.  “In order to walk in Servanthood, we must be willing to sacrifice our self interest in order to benefit another person.”  Dennis Hensley of Taylor University echoed the idea, as he suggested the definition that servant hood is the act of providing service, or attending to others while putting their needs ahead of our own.

      Jesus first voiced this idea in Luke 17.7-10 when we told this parable. 

   But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

Servanthood is a matter of putting other needs ahead of our own.  Servanthood is not performed for the sake of the reward, nor should we serve out of forced service. Servanthood must be willing, out of genuine desire to give of ourselves.  Servant hood doesn’t seek to find its own reward, but find reward in the act of serving.

Servanthood and Today’s Culture

      Our fallen human nature is often opposed to Servanthood, and today’s busy, post-modern culture also moves in a direction opposed to serving others.  Post modernism is about finding my own place in the world, and my own set of priorities by which to live. The post-modern paradigm isn’t about forming a cohesive culture through each person’s work applied toward a common goal; it’s about finding my place, and my own identity in relation to the rest of the world. It’s about me.

      James says we strive, and fight, and seek after our own desires because of our fallen nature. We serve the lust that dwells within our own hearts, and the result can only be strife. James doesn’t write this to condemn us, but help identify that our fallen nature is opposed to the things of God. He continues and says that God actually opposes us when we act in this kind of proud, self seeking priorities. James continues by encouraging us to become humble, to seek the wellbeing of others, and that by doing so, God will give us grace, and draw us to himself.

      John Dawson, the author of Taking our Cities for God told this story.  He said he was approached by a young and enthusiastic junior pastor who desperately wanted to see revival in his church. The younger pastor sought advice because the senior pastor he served with did not share his vision.  The older man had grown accustom to his own ways, and was not interested in changing until the younger pastor had accumulated some mileage under his belt.  The younger man asked. “I am ready to just branch out on my own. There are a number of people in the church that feel the same way I do, and we are thinking about starting our own organization.  John, what do you think?”

      Mr. Dawson replied by referring to the Book of Jude. This small contribution at the end of the New Testament says that those who separate themselves from the rest of the body are carnal.  They often chase after their own lusts, and they do not have the Holy Spirit working in their lives.  Even when clothed in the desire to promote spiritual growth, when we take steps to promote our own agenda, we miss the message of Servanthood, and miss the message which Jesus taught when he knelt and washed the disciple’s feet. 

      The Old testament identifies a person who willingly becomes a ‘bond servant’ to his master.  A bond servant was a special person, one who had grown up as a slave or servant. But a the time when the person was able to purchase his freedom, or at the year of jubilee when all debts were released and all men were able to go free, a servant became a bond servant when he made a willing choice to stay in the service of his master. He was no longer obligated, but he now chose to stay out of love for his master, and his master’s house.  (Deut 15.12-18)  This is the image to which the apostle Paul referred when he called himself the Lord’s bondservant. Paul was a servant of Jesus out of choice. Because he passed the test of Servanthood, his life reflected the love, power and message of the gospel to the entire known world.

      Servanthood is not often modeled in our culture as it was just a generation ago. Somewhere between the me generation of the 70’s and the internet revolution of the new millennium, we have misplaced the value, and pushed aside the benefits of Servanthood.  To be a servant does not mean to give up ourselves, or our identity.  Becoming a servant means taking on the priorities of another, and willingly make them our own.  We lay aside our own rights and will in order to build on another set of priorities. Isn’t this what Jesus was referring to when he asked us to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him.  He was asking us to identify with him, and take on his values, priorities, and principles as our own. We become his servants by serving others, and as a result we build the kingdom.

Application points.

* Servanthood is a choice: Becoming a servant and putting someone else’s wellbeing ahead of your own is a voluntary act. Servanthood cannot be forced, or legislated. 

* Servanthood is active:  Servanthood is seen through our willingness, and our actions.  WE can’t talk about being a servant and expect that others will get the message. Servanthood is defined by what is seen.

* Servanthood shapes our character:  Like a toddler, human nature is most clearly seen though their actions. Uninhibited, fun loving, inquisitive, selfish, unsharing and possessive – all these words can describe our actions, and by becoming willing servants we train ourselves toward godliness and away from selfish ambition.