Servant-Hearted | Wayfarer

You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
2 Corinthians 3:3 (NIV)

Yesterday I delivered the final of a trilogy of messages among our local gathering of Jesus’ followers. In the message, I talked about one of the basic differences between the way the kingdoms of this world operate and the way Jesus taught and exemplified that the Kingdom of God operates.

The kingdoms of this world are all about power. I’ve experienced it on all sorts of different levels in all sorts of different ways. Whoever has the power and authority uses that power to dictate policies that those under authority must follow and obey. It’s just the way things work in a fallen world.

Jesus, on the other hand, relinquished His divine authority when He chose to leave heaven and come to earth and live as one of us. The motivation was servant-hearted love for us, His creation. He wasn’t about top-down power and authoritative systemic policies. He was about individual human hearts and lives changed by love, then gratefully motivated to pay that love forward towards other individuals. Spirit principles not human policies.

In His parable of the sheep and goats (Matthew 25:31-46), Jesus speaks of Judgement Day. The difference between those who enter the Kingdom of Heaven and those who are sent to the fire is about how well individuals loved others. The only policies or rules involved are the two Jesus said were the only two that mattered: Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love others as you love yourself. One of the fascinating things about the parable is that the sheep are unaware that they were loving God as they loved others. The goats, on the other hand, thought they were loving God going through religious motions and keeping rules. There was no evidence, however, of them loving others.

In today’s chapter, Paul uses a simple but beautiful metaphor as he tells the believers in Corinth that they themselves are Paul’s “letter of recommendation.” Their hearts and lives, changed by the love of Jesus that Paul brought to Corinth, are all the commendation that Paul desires or requires. Paul, like Jesus, is concerned about loving his Corinthian friends well.

I think it’s probably a good thing that on this Monday morning these things are rattling around in my heart and mind. As I enter a new work week and look at a schedule full of meetings, one-on-ones, and activities, I want to be motivated by the right things. It’s about people.

Lord Jesus, help me to love others well. The way you have loved me.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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…even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.
1 Corinthians 10:33 (NIV)

Wendy and I have many, many differences. Quite often those differences are at odds with one another. Our brains are wired differently and it’s taken years for us to understand how the other one thinks. Of course, there are both strengths and weaknesses in how each of us think and operate.

Eight years ago Wendy directed a show for our local community theatre called The Christmas Post. It was the third time she’d directed it. It’s a great musical and Wendy is a great director. People loved it, and people loved being in it.

A few years ago Wendy was inducted into our community theatre’s Walk of Fame, and I had the honor of providing her induction speech. I shared my first experience of being around Wendy, which happened to be on stage. I was performing in South Pacific and she was the prop master. There was a scene in which I’m served a sandwich and she asked me what kind of sandwich I like so that she could make sure that every dress rehearsal and every performance I had a fresh sandwich that I liked on stage which she took the time to prepare herself.

That might not sound like a big deal to you, but this is theatre. This is community theatre. I’m used to prop people not even giving a single thought about that sandwich until the night of the first dress rehearsal when I have to ask them, “Where’s my sandwich?” They then run across the street to the Dollar Store to see if they happen to have an expired loaf of bread we can have for free or buy the cheapest loaf of white bread on the rack. They will then put two slices of white bread on the plate.

“No one’s in the audience is going to see that it’s just bread,” they’ll tell me.

By the end of the run the bread will have mold on it. Gross, but, I’m told “It’s okay. No one can see that!”

Wendy would never do that. She was in charge of props and she was going to ensure that if I was going to have a sandwich on stage it’s going to be a real sandwich, a fresh sandwich, and a sandwich I actually like and might even consider eating during the scene. It was the most considerate a stage crew member had ever been to me in my countless stage experiences. It was a small thing, but I was grateful, and impressed.

I shared in her induction speech a side of Wendy that few people see or appreciate. As her husband I watch her spend her time, energy, and resources thinking about everyone. And it’s not just with theatre. She does it with family, work, and friends. It’s so innate to her that she doesn’t even know that she’s doing it. She wants everyone to have a good experience and every detail of everything she plans is painstakingly thought through and structured so as to be considerate of the whole.

In today’s chapter, Paul once again reminds the believers in Corinth of the importance of being considerate of others. As he writes about his own approach, he describes Wendy: “not seeking my own good but the good of many.”

I confess that I am not naturally like that. I have always had a very active inner world and I live a lot of the time preoccupied inside my own head. One of the things Wendy has pointed out to me on numerous occasions is that I had an entire conversation with her inside my head and forgot that I didn’t actually have it with her in real life!

Mea culpa.

I have learned from Wendy’s example of thinking about the “many, not me.” It’s one of the first things that endeared me to her, and it’s one of the things I will forever try to learn from her, and emulate. It is so absolutely spot on with what Jesus tried to teach His disciples when He washed their feet on the night before He was executed. It’s what He exemplified to us all the next day when He became the sacrificial lamb for our sins.

It’s about the many, not me.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.