Yesterday morning I was in the bathroom trying to get myself beautified (a major undertaking first thing in the morning), when Anita yelled at me like there was an emergency. She was standing on the front porch watering her plants. I ran to the door to see what the commotion was. Down at the end of the lane was the weekly garbage truck just sitting there. We had forgotten this was trash pick up day!

I quickly threw on a shirt and ran out to the garage, grabbed the garbage can and began wheeling it down the lane. The garbage man got out of his truck and walked up the lane to meet me. We met half way and he wheeled the can on down to his truck. That was something I did not expect! I’m sure he had a route to run and could not go home to his family until he was finished, yet he took the time to wait and actually helped me get it done.

What if each of us Christians acted that way to others in our daily routine, sacrificing our own time and comfort to help another? I think it might make a big difference in how non-Christians see Christians. Let’s give them something to talk about this week. Be a servant.

Tags: garbage, service

In a Peanuts cartoon Linus announced to his cranky sister, Lucy, that he’s going to be a doctor. “You, a doctor?” she asked. “How can you be a doctor? You don’t love mankind.” Linus replied, “I do too love mankind. It’s people I can’t stand.”

Paul gave us a description of Christian love in 1 Corinthians 13. He listed 15 specific actions that can be taken only toward individuals. Love must be specific and it is a verb (action word).

My favorite demonstration of this is found in the 1989 movie ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ Cranky Miss Daisy was embarrassed that she hadto have a driver haul her around and treated him as an insult. Yet Hoke, the driver, faithfully served her and put up with her crankiness. And, in time, the relationship grew. That was a wonderful lesson in humble servant-hood and demonstrated love.

Tags: humor, love, service

Members of the upper level Brahman class in India never stoop to do any menial labor. So how shocked Shriman Naraarayan was when, spending time at Gandhi’s ashram (a spiritual retreat center for Hindus), he was assigned a task that he felt was beneath his dignity.

Having earned a doctorate from the London School of Economics, that young man had come to the ashram to seek guidance about his future. Unknown to him, everybody at the ashram was given some specific assignment, and Shriman’s was to clean toilets. Deeply offended, he went to Ghandi immediately and complained, “I hold a doctorate. I’m capable of doing great things. Why do you waste my time and talents on cleaning toilets?”

Gandhi responded, “I know of your capacity to do great things, but I have yet to discover your capacity to do little things.”

You may be highly qualified to serve our Lord Jesus in a significant way. Because of your training and gifts, you may have the potential to carry on great and effective spiritual service. But are you willing to humbly perform some menial task if He so assigns you? Would you be willing to clean another’s toilet or wash another’s feet? (John 13:14-15). That’s what discipleship is all about.

Tags: discipleship, Gandhi, humility, little, service

This is a true story. A college student named Bill was a new Christian. One Sunday he visited a church near campus. He walked in barefoot and was wearing a T-shirt and jeans. The service had already started, so he walked down the aisle looking for a seat. Finding none, he sat down cross-legged on the floor – right in front of the pulpit!

The congregation became noticeably uneasy. Then, from the back of the church, an elderly deacon got up and with his cane slowly made his way to the front. Every eye followed him. As the old gentleman approached Bill, he dropped his cane and with great effort lowered himself and sat down beside him so the young man wouldn’t have to worship alone.

Paul wrote that Christ, being equal with God, set aside His reputation, and became obedient unto death – the ultimate act of humility. When we learn to think as Jesus thought, we see people through the same eyes as that godly deacon.

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).

Tags: hippie, humility, service

We’re talking about humility this week. Author and speaker Joni Eareckson Tada said it well: “We grab for humility and – poof – it disappears like stardust through our fingers.”

So how can we know when we are truly humble? We can’t. But when serving others becomes second nature to us, we are pursuing the ideal that Jesus set for us in Matthew 23. After pointing out that the scribes and Pharisees were always seeking power and position, He said, “He who humbles himself will be exalted” (v. 12).

Senator Mark Hatfield exemplified the spirit of service Jesus advocated. He attended a weekly Bible study at his church in Washington, DC, along with other politicians and professionals. As soon as the meetings ended, most rushed off to their jobs. But Senator Hatfield usually stayed to stack chairs – and he was the highest ranking official there!

Serving others; that’s what true humility is all about.

Tags: humility, Mark Hatfield, service