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Too Lofty an Aspiration?

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? A teacher, fire fighter, doctor, or nurse? As you matured, did your aspirations morph, as well, letting go of your super-hero dreams, for instance, to pursue the construction trades? Or were you like the college student I know, who resolutely pursues a career as an ESPN announcer, a goal from which he has not wavered since the fourth grade? Yet of all the aspirations I’ve ever heard, I don’t recall anyone saying, “When I grow up, I want to be a servant.”

Servanthood—we may regard it as the lowest rung on a worldly ladder, but it is our highest heavenly calling. Think for a minute, how powerful the moments spent in prayer with someone who is confused, angry or hurting! Very few people will refuse your offer. Recall for a minute, what is it like to hear words of truth spoken in love, replacing confusion with clarity and doubts with hope? Marvel for a minute, what is it like to be a conduit through whom God’s eternal power and divine love meet people’s earthly and spiritual needs? Reflect for a minute, what is it like to “comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God”?1

Or imagine for a minute how it must feel to share the honor of those whom God has called, “my servant”—Moses2, Joshua3, Samuel4, David5, Elijah6, and Jesus7. Too lofty an aspiration? I don’t think so. In fact, I’m guessing that in your heart of hearts, your deepest desire is to hear Jesus speak these words to you when you see Him face to face, “Well done, good and faithful servant! … Come and share your master’s happiness.”8 And if this is indeed our innermost yearning, then would we live our days with servant hearts from which flow servant deeds? Is there any higher calling? Can there be any greater reward?

I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:9b-10)

Father, your Son came to us as a servant; grace us the humility to serve with Him. Amen.

Christ in me is humility.

1 2 Corinthians 1:4
2 Exodus 14:31
3 Joshua 24:29
4 1 Samuel 3:10
5 2 Samuel 3:18
6 2 Kings 9:36
7 Isaiah 52:13
8 Matthew 25:21

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The One We Get To Serve

No matter who we are, we “Gotta Serve Somebody,”1 concludes Bob Dylan in his tune of this title. His refrain emphasizes time and again:

“Well it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.”2

The legendary songwriter is onto something. In fact, Jesus says we will serve a master—be it God or money—and that we must choose only one. “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”3 So, let’s consider our dilemma: money as our life’s master, or God as the Lord of life.

Money perches precariously “where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal,”4 but God guarantees us an inheritance,5 one that “can never perish, spoil or fade … kept in heaven for you.”6 Wealth conditions our value on a cold calculation of net worth, but God proclaims our pricelessness through the cost of our redemption: “not with perishable things such as silver or gold … but with the precious blood of Christ.”7 Wealth tantalizes the soul through sips of success, but never in quenching quantities, for “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income”8; but Jesus says, “whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again … [It] will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”9 Of money it is said, “You can’t take it with you”—it drops us off at death’s door empty-handed and barren-souled; but Jesus counsels us to invest ourselves into what lies beyond our retirement years: “Store up for yourselves treasures in in heaven,”10 which surely awaits all who serve Him.

We could contrast these two masters in many ways and for a long time, exposing one and revealing the other, but here is the rich irony of it all: Money robs those who serve it. It would rob us of life itself, consuming our existence today with worries over what we will consume tomorrow. This is not freedom, and we need not squander our days serving the money god who oppresses us under a scepter of fear. Instead, Jesus points to the beauty of creation as the reflection of both the heart of the eternal God and the greater glory to which He raises His people. “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?… Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”11

When money is our master, we “gotta” serve it, and we do so in fear. God is the glorious One we “get to” serve, and it is a privilege, it is a joy. For in Him is freedom from the fear of tomorrow; in Him is life itself, today.

Father, I choose to trust you today. I choose to serve you today. I choose not to worry about tomorrow, for you know what I need and you will be my Master then, too. Amen.

1 Dylan, Bob. Gotta Serve Somebody. Columbia Records, 1979.
2 Dylan. Gotta Serve Somebody.
3 Matthew 6:24 (ESV)
4 Matthew 6:19 (ESV)
5 Ephesians 1:14
6 1 Peter 1:4
7 1 Peter 1:18, 19
8 Ecclesiastes 5:10
9 John 4:14
10 Matthew 6:20 (ESV)
11 Matthew 6:28b-30, 33 (ESV)

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The Peacemakers

Did you ever notice it takes months of detailed planning and diligent building to erect a magnificent edifice, but only days or weeks to raze it to mere memories? Over seasons of integrity and years of faithfulness is our trust in another established; sudden is its betrayal, however, and we behold its ruins through blurry eyes of bitter tears. We hard-earn honor over lifetime of prudent decisions, only to damage our reputation with an unconstrained word or a me-first choice. So it is, also, with dissension and peace: “A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel.”1 There are few ways as impactful to “making a difference” than to defuse conflict and foster peace in our small space in the world. Here, then, are some peacemaking observations from throughout the years. Feel free to add your own at the end of this post.

Listen. We often talk when the solution lies in listening. As Job in his agony implored of his friends, “Listen carefully to my words; let your ears take in what I say.”2

Look beneath symptoms. Too, we often stop at the symptom of conflict but neglect to dig to its roots. “What causes fights and quarrels among you?” queried James, “Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?”3 We do well to stop an honest moment and think.

Stay on point. For a variety of reasons, it is very difficult for some people to accept or admit their own shortcomings, so they marginalize their offenses by pointing to the offenses of another. This gets us nowhere in terms of conflict resolution, so I’ve learned to remain focused by acknowledging impertinent issues, then setting them aside for later conversation.

Find shared values. I think people’s common ground is much larger than their battle ground. Most, for instance, value faithfulness, justice, goodness, honor and mercy. To the extent conflicting parties identify common ground, their differences become more clearly defined, seemingly smaller, and easier to address.

Move beyond detente. Personally, I think detente—the mere absence of conflict—is only slightly better than conflict itself. True resolution settles for nothing short of unity. “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.”4

Know when to stay clear. “Like one who grabs a stray dog by the ears is someone who rushes into a quarrel not their own,” advised Solomon.5 I can’t quarrel with that.

Father, give me an honest heart to confess my sin and turn from it. Give me a discerning heart to know when to be—and when not to be—involved in conflict. Give me a wise heart to know how to help calm a quarrel. Give me a patient heart, because peace takes time. Amen.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (Matthew 5:9)

Christ in me is peace.

1 Proverbs 15:18
2 Job 13:17
3 James 4:1
4 Psalm 133:1
5 Proverbs 26:17