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Service Faults
Brian Mashburn
December 14, 2008
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Why Serve The World?
There are lots of reasons why people serve people.
Not all of them are good. Even if the outward actions serve people, it is possible to have inward motives that don't serve people at all.
What's worse, while the outward actions might do their good work, it steals the joy and blessing that serving others is designed to give the server.
In other words, we can do the right things for the wrong reasons.
Some serve others in order to be served. And while being served in your need is usually a blessed by-product of being a servant to others in theirs, it can be manipulative.
Some serve others in order to feel accepted by people. I just heard a guy in my small group share how "he will do anything for any of his friends, including if it's illegal or destructive." All in a warped attempt to come across as "loyal" at any cost, all in effort to feel accepted.
Some serve others in order to be accepted by God. Who doesn't want to be accepted by God? Problem is, serving others doesn't make you acceptable by God. Good news is, you are accepted by God, and that, properly understood, makes you a servant.
Some serve others in order to feel like they have value. Some do it to gain recognition. Some to feel like they've "earned the right" to criticize others they don't like. Some use sacrificial service to others as a way to hide from the more sacrificial loving of others.
It begs the question, why should we serve the world?
Because the world needs our service. Because the world needs us to live our most heroic lives. Because we love the world. Because service is what let's the people of the world know we are their friends. And God is their friend.
But ultimately, we serve because it is the best possible life available to us. It is the life that Christ modeled. The life he said was worth his death to give us. It is the life worth dying for. It is the life of Christ.