Co-Creation

Serving Others

“True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.” ~ Arther Ashe

Today, the term pastor has become synonymous with someone who leads a church. This is an unfortunate misuse of the word that can prevent us from grasping the true essence of what it means to be pastoral. Anyone can lead in any sphere and at any level with a pastoral heart or you can be a church leader without necessarily functioning with a pastoral heart.

However, any believer who is called to have responsibility for people, whether in the workplace, the church, or the family, should function in a pastoral capacity to some degree. The word pastor means shepherd. Jesus describes Himself as the Good Shepherd and His defining characteristic is this: a good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. In other words, when we serve and care for others selflessly, we are being a good shepherd.

I will use another story to illustrate - the story of the good Samaritan. Jesus gives this parable in response to the question posed by an expert in religious law trying to escape from loving his neighbor. The 'lawyer' asks, "And who is my neighbour?" (trying to escape on a technicality). Here is Jesus' response:

“A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’"

Only the Samaritan was willing to sacrifice his time, reputation, energy, and money to help the injured man. This is what a shepherd looks like and this is one of the most powerful ways to influence another human being. Suppose we were to extend this parable... Suppose the Jewish man ran into each of these three people a year later and each tried to invite him to their 'church'. Who do you think he would listen to? The answer is obvious. Doing good for people to win them over is the very antithesis of a shepherd's heart, so please do not misunderstand what I'm saying. That's not the motive. The motive is love. Jesus commands us to love each other in the same way that He loved us. That's the heart of a pastor - to love others not just in words but in deeds. The happy byproduct of this love is that people trust and listen to those who genuinely care for them because they know that they have their best interests at heart.

Keeping this flow of love from Jesus to you and you to others is very important. Without this inflow and outflow of love, service becomes a bitter duty. People become our projects to fix or means to earn brownie points and those we serve become burdens to our souls.

Journal with Holy Spirit: When you think of serving others what feelings come up for you? Do you feel stressed or burdened? Is there a price that seems too high to pay? Your reputation? Your comfort?