Serve people, do I really have to?

I have been thinking about the call to serve as you probably have figured out. As I think about I realize that I serve a lot but it seems like often my service is to organizations or Churches and seldom is it to individuals. I know that you are probably thinking; "Does it really matter? Isn't service the same regardless of who we do it for or even why we do it?" I had not thought about it much myself until just recently but now it seems like there is a big distinction to me. I want to see who agrees with me or who thinks that I am crazy. when I post this blog on facebook, please reply with your thoughts. I would be interested to hear.

In my life I have found that it is easy to serve a Church or an organization. I will have tasks to do that may or may not involve other people directly but these tasks do not make me connect with the people. The goal of the task is to get something accomplished. It is not wrong to want to accomplish something or to see a problem and work toward resolution. It is a needed thing and it benefits people in some way. It is honorable to serve this way and many things have been accomplished through this type of work. So what is the problem that I am seeing in organizational or congregational service?

I would say that what I have been thinking stems from the IRIS Ministries model of ministry. Their moto is love the person in front of you. When you serve in an organization, it is easy to miss the person. Relationship is not the goal but rather achievement is. I have walked right past the person that I was building a house or stove for many times without stopping for them. I performed a service that they seemed to need but left with the same level of relationship that I had when we started. I did not discover anything new about them. It might be that they would like to build their own house or stove. Maybe they needed financial help but not physical help. Maybe they just wanted someone to care about them as a person. Many people, especially poor people do not want to be known primarily for their need or poverty. They want people to see a real human and care about them before all of the other stuff. Relationship will help solve the problems long term. Lack of relationship meets the immediate need without making the long term commitment to a person.

 I am not saying that everyone I have worked with serves the institution more than the people. I have worked with many great people that love not just the communities that we have worked in but also the people that we are doing work for. It is not an issue about who brought you there but what is your heart toward the person that is in front of you? When we go to serve, we must remember that the people we encounter are real people. They have real dreams and desires. They have been hurt by life's cruelties. They have celebrated and mourned. They do not want to be forever downtrodden but they need an ally, a friend who will walk wit them into the better life God has for them. Serving people requires love that is not always evident when we serve organizations.

When we look at the example of Jesus, His service was often inconvenient to Him and it always was directed at someone.  He took the time to stop and see the person that was there. He spoke not just to their need but also the cry of their heart. People knew they were valued when they came to Him. Let's look at a couple of examples of how Jesus served people.

Jhn 5:5-9 ESV - One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be healed?" The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me." Jesus said to him, "Get up, take up your bed, and walk." And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath.

Mat 8:5-8, 10-13 ESV - When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly." And he said to him, "I will come and heal him." But the centurion replied, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. ... When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." And to the centurion Jesus said, "Go; let it be done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed at that very moment.

In these stories, we see that Jesus is approachable. He sees the need. He also sees the person. He speaks to need but does not address it conventionally. He relates to the person from the place that He found them. The man at the pool had faith in the water and not in the goodness of God. Jesus still asked him what he wanted and then healed him. In the centurion story, the man was a foreign soldier but Jesus commented on how strong a faith he had and then healed the servant. In both places, Jesus honored the person and recognized both their humanity and their dignity before He met the need.

This is the service that we need to be engaged in. We have to get to know people and let God grow a greater love for them in our heart. We must allow that love to compel us to serve the person and not just the need. relationship must be our first goal. Jesus said that in love, we fulfill the law. Love must connect our acts of service to the recipients of that service. This is now my goal in serving anywhere and any time. Join me?