Working On Your Serve

So you want to be a servant...

What's the opposite of classify? Declassify, of course.
What's the opposite of regulate? Deregulate.
Humidify? Dehumidify.
Sensitize? Desensitize.

What about Serve? What's the opposite of that?

In the late 1780s, America's founding fathers were trying desperately to get our government off the ground. But it wasn't until 1791 that the first ten Amendments to the Constitution were ratified, and America had its Bill of Rights. This acheivement served to overcome the final obstacle to a stable and workable government uniting our 13 original colonies, and the Bill of Rights is now recognized around the world as a uniquely American document.

I think everyone I know would agree that the adoption of the Bill of Rights was a triumphant moment in American history, and indeed a turning point in the civilization of humanity.

But it also has a lot to tell us about our character as Americans. Our nation was founded on the idea, among others, that all humans deserve to have certain rights and opportunities. Thomas Jefferson called them "unalienable." The framers of the Constitution broke them down into three categories: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness (a modification of John Locke's list- Life, Liberty and Property.) Then, the Bill of Rights put them into lawyerspeak for time immemorial.

And lo and behold, it stuck. 215 years later, what better way is there to identify an American in a crowd than to find the one demanding to get what he deserves (or more precisely, what he wants.) As a nation, we are so focused on our rights that it has become impossible to understand the true character of Jesus.

If you are always thinking about how you can serve others, you are a SERVANT.
If you are always thinking about what you deserve, you, my friend, are a DESERVANT. You are the opposite of what Jesus was, and is calling you to be.

Take a look at Philippians 2:5-7 in the Message.

Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human!

Jesus would be a terrible American.

If the Creator of Volcanoes, Constellations and DNA can stoop to washing dirty feet, not to mention submitting to a Roman crucifixion, then maybe we can stop thinking about ourselves, and start noticing the pain and desperation all around us. Maybe we can let our church services start serving others instead of ourselves (otherwise maybe we should call them disservices.) Maybe we can stop complaining about how badly people treat us long enough to realize that we've been treating them even worse.

OK? Starting.... now.