The day I graduated Taylor University, every graduate received their diploma as well as a towel. The towel symbolized a commitment to servant leadership, as modeled by Jesus when he washed the feet of his disciples. The greatest of all will be the servant of all. And we were charged with a mission of life-long service to the world.
It has occurred to me that when I serve, I have a choice: I can either serve your smallness or I can serve your greatness. There is a pattern in Christ’s life that can be seen in every one of his actions with mankind. Jesus didn’t just wash feet; he confronted hypocrites and admonished the woman caught in adultery, he told his disciples “You feed them,” regarding the 5,000+ people that had followed them into a remote place and he drove the money changers out of the temple with a whip. In every encounter, Jesus took a stand for God’s great intention for humanity. That stand was never nice, and it was always loving, always kind.
Jesus took a stand for God’s great intention for humanity.
Much of what we call service in our day to day is really just serving our smallness. We serve each others’ excuses, reasons, mediocrity and fear. We accommodate the reasons we use to justify living lesser than what we’re capable of. We’re very understanding. Have you ever noticed that? But true service always leaves us with a greater sense of who we really are, what we’re capable of and what we were created for. It serves our greatness. It often wakes us out of our slumber…like an unexpected kick in the pants. I wonder if Taylor University would ever consider handing out cans of whoopass along with those towels.
True service always leaves us with a greater sense of who we really are,
what we’re capable of
and what we were created for.
Who you are is greater than all those reasons combined. Really. And you don’t even have to believe it in order to live like it. You can make it a requirement to “feel” that something is true before you act on it, but that’s just another way to stay stopped, and it delays the life experiences that would actually generate the feelings you’re waiting on. Or you can take a stand for the possibility that who you are is greater than your reasons. Step out and see what happens.
Who you are is greater than all those reasons combined.
Really.
I’m here to create a new opening for what you are actually capable of and then support you in making the impossible happen. With God, all of it is already possible.
So which do you prefer: 1) The life you really want or 2) All the reasons you can’t have it? Choose.
Becky
