“just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28

What does it mean to serve? We are called to serve God, a calling that often looks like service to our fellow human beings, but what does that mean? 

Some people think it means being a doormat and allowing everyone to bleed you dry of time, resources, and energy. Other people think it means doing everything for everyone else and nothing for themselves. Jesus, the ultimate servant, didn’t work like that. He took time to rest and have friends. More than once he laid down a sassy shut down to someone trying to twist his message. He frequently required people to play a part in their miracle, even if it was as simple as washing one’s face. 

So what does it mean to serve instead of be served? How can we be the hands and feet of Jesus and carry on his mission to serve the world? 

See those around you

It is as simple – and as difficult – as seeking to provide what someone else needs. The thing is, this goes beyond the basic necessities of food, water, and shelter. Yes, there are times when these are required, when what someone truly needs in that moment is to simply be supported in the act of living. 

Unless you are responding to natural disasters, venturing into war torn countries, working in a shelter, or in a position where you are also in need, chances are, you aren’t encountering those people every day. The danger of stopping the idea of service at necessities means most of us are absolving ourselves of the responsibility to serve. We hand over a little money and go about our merry way. 

But there are so many other ways to serve and every one of them open up doors for us to also share about Jesus. 

Use what you see

When you consider that serving others means providing what they need, service can look like offering to switch seats with someone on an airplane, listening to someone excited to talk about the new bathroom cleaner they found, or giving someone a ride to the airport. It can look like cleaning someone’s house when a member of their family is sick. Or like showing up to church first to set up chairs and make the coffee. It might also mean watching someone’s three small children so the parents can have their first date night in a year. 

But service doesn’t have to be unpleasant. Yes, service means sacrificing your time, energy, and attention. But all too often we think it also has to be painful. Jesus suffered immensely when He died on the cross once, but he ate a whole lot of enjoyable dinners before that. 

Consider that person who has two tickets to a concert and desperately doesn’t want to go alone. Or the person who lives by themselves but has a passion to cook elaborate meals. How about the weekly board game group that just had a member move away and now lacks a fourth person. Providing what these people need still costs your time, energy, and effort. Just because you might actually enjoy it doesn’t make it less important to the person you’re helping. 

Shift the focus

If we focus on service having to feel like sacrifice, we put the focus on ourselves instead of the person we’re serving. Sometimes our greatest act of service is to allow ourselves to be served. When someone desires to share the bounty God has given them, they have a need for a recipient. 

We have been called to serve like Jesus, but we need to remember what that looked like in the Bible. Sometimes it looked like going to a rich man’s house for dinner, sometimes it looked like sticking his hands into the mud, and sometimes it looked like allowing his feet to be washed with perfume. It also looked like providing for his own needs for rest and communion with friends and God. 

When we focus on meeting the needs of others, whether we find it enjoyable or not, we won’t miss the opportunities to point people to their ultimate need – a relationship with Jesus. We’ll also avoid feeling that temptation to see ourselves as righteous because we’re running on fumes. No one needs you to collapse on them – physically or mentally.

Your turn

Take time this week to serve your fellow humans, no matter what that looks like. You’ll change your little corner of the world and you just might change yourself in the process.

How good are you at meeting the needs around you? Check out SHARE, by Kristi Ann Hunter Share on X