“Anybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” - John 13:14-15

“Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 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 20:26-27

This week’s post in the Stop Trying, Start Training Series is on the discipline of service. Adele Calhoun describes this practice as “the way the world discovers the love of God.” Richard Foster calls this the “ministry of the towel”. The practice and discipline of true service is the practical way that we learn and gain the Spirit-fruit of humility. True service to others helps us to follow Jesus’ commands to deny ourself and love our neighbors. Let’s take a closer look at this important spiritual discipline.

The Ministry of the Towel

John 13:1-17

“It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”

In this passage, Jesus sets for us the example of true service and He tells us to do likewise. In this simple act, Jesus flips our whole idea of greatness on its head. In Matthew 23:11, He again tells us that the true path to greatness is service - the ministry of the towel. And in Philippians 2:5-11 we see the ultimate example of true service displayed in Jesus stepping down from Heaven into this world so that we might be restored to God. Part of learning to follow Jesus and live as a citizen in the Kingdom of God is learning that the way to true greatness in God’s eyes is through humility. The world we live in defines greatness as ultimately being the one that is served, but God defines greatness as being the one who serves.

Pride and Humility
Our human nature is full of pride. The kind of pride that makes us think we are better than others, the kind of pride that makes us think we don’t need other people and that we don’t need God. It was ultimately pride that got Adam and Eve kicked out of the Garden. John Ortberg calls pride a form of “anti-love”. He says that “pride moves us to exclude instead of embrace.”

Through the discipline of service we slowly but surely strangle this pride and God puts in us His fruit of humility. Richard Foster writes that “nothing disciplines the inordinate desires of the flesh like serving, and nothing transforms the desires of the flesh like serving in hiddenness.”

As you may have discovered, humility is not a virtue that comes by trying to be humble. Give that a try and see how long it is until you are proud of your so called humility. True from-the-heart humility comes by following the example of Jesus and becoming a servant.

Practicing Service

This discipline, as it should be, is extremely practical. We all have opportunities to serve those around us, whether at home or work or neighborhood. We should not try to think too long and hard about how we can serve, rather we should simply serve where there is a need.

John Ortberg, in his book The Life You’ve Always Wanted, outlines several ways we can practice this wonderful discipline:

• The Ministry of the Mundane - these are the countless opportunities that arise throughout a normal day. The simple things that we can do that we often miss. In this type of serving, there is no task that is too small. Dietrich Bonhoeffer calls this “active helpfulness”.

• The Ministry of Being Interrupted or Availability - this type of service can be easily practiced at work by simply allowing ourselves to be available and interruptible for things that are not on our agenda. Or at home or in our neighborhoods we can simply make ourselves available to the needs of those around us. This particular practice helps us to step outside of our own selves and realize that the world does not revolve around us!

• The Ministry of Holding Your Tongue - one way we can battle the pride that dwells inside of us is to learn to hold our tongues. We live in a culture that encourages us to say what is on our minds, however, the Bible tells us to learn to tame our tongues and learn control over them. This act of service also involves learning to listen to others - as James 1:19 says “be quick to listen and slow to speak”.

• The Ministry of Bearing Another’s Burdens - Galatians 6:2 says to “bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”  Ortberg says, “the ministry of bearing with one another is more than simply tolerating difficult people.  It is also learning to hear God speak through them.  It is learning to be “for” them.  It is learning that the most difficult person I have to deal with is me.”

• The Ministry of Hospitality - 1 Peter 4:9 says to “practice hospitality ungrudgingly to one another”  How often do we welcome people into our homes and practice this act of service?  In our modern world, we have turned our homes into private sanctuaries into which we welcome no one.  There is nothing wrong with relaxing in the privacy of your home, but have we allowed ourselves to become cut off from people?  This practice is a wonderful and simple way to practice serving and loving others.  (see this post on hospitality from Angela Coon)

These are just a few ways that we can practice service.  Look at your life and daily activity and discover the many unique opportunities you have to serve.  Serve those around you and let God fill you with the grace of humility for His glory.

Please feel welcome to respond with comments, thoughts, questions, or your experiences with serving in the comments section below.