Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

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I read a story not long ago about a girl who received a shoebox from Operation Christmas Tree. She eventually gave her life to Christ because of the example and generosity of the gift. Years later, she met the person who gave her the shoebox and told her the story of her salvation. Never underestimate the importance of serving.

We put a lot of emphasis on evangelism, and rightly so. People cannot be saved unless they know the gospel. But people have very little motivation to accept the gospel unless they see it delivered by people who have been changed by the gospel. This is where missions comes in. We serve people because they have been made in the image of God. They have worth. We serve people because we love them, and because Jesus loves them.

“Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 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.” ” (Mar 10:42-45 NIV)

Jesus contrasted His Kingdom with earthly governments (v. 42). In any system of government, there is a chain of command regarding authority. In our government, the president is the single person with the most power. Thousands of children say they want to be the President when they grow up. But only one person gets to become President at a time. Don’t tell your kids they can be and do whatever they want to be. Do tell them they can be and do exactly what God wants them to be and do.

My two older children have very poor vision. Unless God provides a miracle, they will not likely be pilots, who need 20/20 vision to fly, or at least 20/40 for a third class pilot’s license for flying their private plane. Encourage your kids to pray and seek the Lord to guide them in their profession. A person’s motivation to a particular job ought to be Lord, not gaining power. People often think the same thing in the workplace. They think, “In order to be important, I’ve got to be the boss.” But look how Jesus responded to this line of thinking (v. 43a). Jesus told them, “No! You don’t understand!” Throw out that whole system of thought that says you need to have authority to be great. Why are we different? Because we are called out from the world. Jesus has removed us from the performance cycle. We are righteous in Christ.

The road to great influence is not commanding or having position, it’s serving (v. 43b-44). When you serve people, they know that you love them. When you serve people, they know that you’ll do anything for them. When you serve people, they feel grateful, and they in turn want to serve and bless you.

Joseph in the Old Testament would not have ever come to his ultimate place of authority had he not first been a slave. That’s how he got to Egypt in the first place. That’s where his faith grew through trials. That’s where he opportunities to practice his gifts and point people to the Lord. That’s where he learned humility.

Jesus, too, showed his humility in living and dying the way he did (v. 45). The Son of Man, who is the Son of God and God Himself, has every right to command our attention and demand our worship. Yet he came not to be served, but to serve. Many tv shows and movies include the common line, “Follow that car.” My three year old recently started saying it to me as I drive. We are to follow Christ.

But we can only imitate Christ to an extent. We can’t be sinless, though we strive to please Him in all things. We can’t be God. We can’t have all authority over all things. We can’t give our life as a ransom for many. We can die for others.

I’m so grateful for the heroes of 9/11 who died to save lives, such as Todd Beamer. He was one of the passengers of Flight 93 that overpowered the hijackers and ultimately saved countless lives in Washington, D.C. His wife, Lisa Beamer told interviewers “God says, ‘I knew on September 10, and I could have stopped it, but I have a plan for greater good than you can ever imagine.’ I don’t know God’s plan, and, honestly, right now I don’t like it very much. But I trust that He is true to His promise in Romans 8:28.”

We can also die daily in serving others. But we can’t die for sins. Only Jesus Christ could die for sins. The ultimate goal of Christ’s life wasn’t to serve, but to die. But his death wouldn’t even have been noticed unless his life demanded we notice it. Christ served people so that those people would experience his love and give him their lives.

If the Great Commission is our mandate, then a life of missions is our method. Many say not to tie evangelism and missions so closely together. But if we truly love people, then missions must lead to evangelism. People do not ultimately need us to serve them, they need to know Christ.