28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Christ is our example. If we lived as He lived, our lives would be one of service and fulfillment. It would be a life of inner peace and outward persecution. We live in a world where over a billion people follow the example of Mohammed, the prophet of Islam. The reason there is so much violence is because they follow his example. He was a man of violence. He personally killed hundreds of people. The violence of Muslims today is a direct result of their emulation of their founder. Many of our troubles today stem from the fact that we don’t hear the message of this verse and put it into practice. We are to serve, not be served. We go to church expecting someone else to be involved, someone else to do, when all the while Jesus is calling us to serve. We have become a shopping generation. We want to swing in, pick up what we need, and turn around and leave. But what really need is to serve others. We need to give of ourselves to another. We need to get out of our own world and into the world of others. There are crisis times when we don’t have the physical, emotional, and spiritual resources to give. I get that. But most of the time we are just too selfish. We don’t get out of our comfort zone and reach out to someone else. We need to be serving. It is something that will benefit us. It is a need that often goes unfulfilled, but it is a need we have. We need to serve others. So next time you hear about a need, go ahead and risk meeting the need. Stretch yourself. For the rare few who are doing too much already, involved in every possible committee and group, perhaps you need is to let someone else meet the need. Jesus served, we should be serving as well. (These words were written 5 days ago!)
The Arnold Journey 