Make no mistake: Jesus is the Savior of the world. He is God the Son, who left heaven and took on human flesh. He pointed others to God and died to pay for our sins. Jesus is our only hope for salvation.
But He also loved serving others. In fact, when He described His mission on earth, He described Himself as a servant as well as the Savior (Mark 10:45).
We should never forget that, and here’s why. As Christ followers, we are called to imitate Him. Of course, we can never save the world. We couldn’t even save ourselves. But we can serve others, and it’s through serving others that we reflect Him most clearly.
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Mark 10:45
Serving others with your hands and feet
Aside from dying on the cross, Jesus’s most obvious example of servanthood came when He washed the disciples’ feet in John 13. This was a task reserved for household servants, but none of the disciples felt compelled to embrace that role during the Passover meal. So, Jesus took up the towel and did it Himself.
Then, He challenged His disciples to follow His example (John 13:12-15). That’s really what serving others is all about. When embracing the role of servant, we become Jesus’s hands and feet in the world. We do what He would do. More precisely, we’re letting Him do it through us.
That should shed a whole new light on Christian servanthood. But there’s another thing we need to remember. In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus told the story about some sheep and goats. Some received the Master’s praise, while others earned His condemnation. The difference, Jesus said, was how each group treated others, especially the downtrodden.
Jesus also noted that when we serve the “least of these,” we are really serving Him. Consequently, if we refuse to serve others, we reject Him. So, as we start thinking about being a servant, we need to remember whom we are ultimately serving.
We aren’t just serving the less fortunate. We’re serving the Savior.
“Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.”
Proverbs 19:17
Serving Like Jesus
It’s pretty easy to talk about serving others. For many, it’s no stretch to even ask someone how we can help. That’s because we live in a culture where people tend to politely turn down such offers. It’s a safe ask. But serving like Jesus means replacing words with action.
To be honest, books and websites are full of great ideas for serving others. But if we want to serve like Jesus, we need to dig deeper. We must look at what Jesus did and follow His example. Here are four basic principles drawn from the life of Jesus that can help us serve like Him:
1. Jesus was prepared. Of course, as the Son of God, Jesus had everything He needed to meet the needs of those around Him. But time and again, He intentionally moved to meet needs in ways no one expected. Whether a crowd that needed food or a blind man who needed sight, Jesus was always prepared to act.
As Christ followers, we need to be prepared too. All of us are novices when it comes to servanthood. Our sinful nature encourages us to focus on ourselves more than anything or anyone else. But we can get lots of practice because God provides countless opportunities to serve each day. We just need to be ready when they arrive.
2. Jesus focused on those who couldn’t return the favor. When Jesus talked about the “least of these,” He mentioned several kinds of people. Most, if not all, were unable to help themselves: sick, poor, or in prison. It would be easier to help those who could somehow pay us back, but that wasn’t what Jesus taught.
In Luke’s version of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talked about the difference between pagans and believers (Luke 6:30-36). Pagans routinely helped those who could later help them. Christians, though, must have a higher standard. We don’t serve to get repaid. Our repayment comes in a “well done” down the road.
3. Jesus was personal. Over the past couple of years, we’ve learned a lot about the power of technology. We’ve discovered how to overcome distance with a click of a mouse. But Jesus understood that serving others works best through personal interaction. That’s why He went out of His way to touch lepers and minister to folks with sketchy reputations.
Being a servant gives us a chance to move outside our comfort zones and connect with people where they live. We can be their cheerleader. We can listen to their stories, and we can speak into their lives. Technology has its benefits, but it also has its limitations. Human interaction is always the better path toward service.
4. Jesus involved others. From a human perspective, Jesus’s plan to save the world seemed ludicrous. For starters, He died. But even after He rose from the grave, He entrusted the greatest story ever told to a group of followers who had gotten three years older, but not much wiser. Still, with His help, they changed the world.
When you serve, bring others along for the ride. As a husband and a dad, you could start with those under your roof. Strengthen your marriage by serving together with your wife. Teach your kids how to be servants by working alongside them. Lead by example and make a difference in your family while you’re making a difference in the world.
The Bottom Line
Learning to serve others well is about getting outside ourselves. God has given each of us strengths, gifts, and abilities to use for His glory. And we should be using those to serve others.
But here’s the thing: While biblical servanthood is about helping others, it also produces incredible levels of joy and purpose in our own lives. Truth is, you’ll never truly be satisfied as a man or as a believer until you find ways to follow the example of Jesus and become a servant to others.
People in the world need to see what Jesus really looks like. We can show them by serving others.
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