Tour Begins: Learning to Serve

“The son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve…” Matthew 20:28

On May 5 we packed the truck and the quantums and hit the road for OUR FIRST TOUR!!! The moment we had been waiting and training for, tour! We traveled to Eastern Cape for just over 3 weeks of shows and service.  

The year of working with 13^th Floor has taught me a new level of depth when it comes to understanding God’s call to service. I must admit, my service is usually not typified by selflessness. The following reading by Oswald Chambers speaks to the level of service I believe God wants to develop in my life and heart:

Oswald Chambers in His Upmost for His Highest

Serving the team: Running a rehearsal

           

We somehow have the idea that a person called to the ministry is called to be different and above other people. But according to Jesus Christ, he is called to be a “doormat” for others—called to be their spiritual leader, but never their superior.

Serving the orphaned: Teaching a dance to orphans in Malmesbury

Paul’s idea of service was to pour his life out to the last drop for others. And whether he received praise or blame made no difference.

But the chief motivation behind Paul’s service was not love for others but love for his Lord.

If our devotion is to the cause of humanity, we will be quickly defeated and broken-hearted, since we will often be confronted with a great deal of ingratitude from other people. But if we are motivated by our love for God, no amount of ingratitude will be able to hinder us from serving one another.

Serving the each other during set-down

            Paul’s understanding of how Christ had dealt with him is the secret behind his determination to serve others. “I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man…” (1 Timothy 1:13). In other words, no matter how badly others may have treated Paul, they could never have treated him with the same degree of spite and hatred with which he had treated Jesus Christ.

Once we realize that Jesus has served us even to the depths of our meagerness, our selfishness, and our sin, nothing we encounter from others will be able to exhaust our determination to serve others for His sake.

Serving the hosting communities through intercession