19. 05.
This is such a broad discipline, it’s hard to summarize it in one post, so I will be using two posts for the discipline of service.
First, I would like to distinguish the difference between self-righteous service and true service. I will be using references from Richard J. Foster’s Celebration of Discipline as well as my own notes.
- Self righteous service is mostly concerned with acts of service that will get noticed and are a big deal. It enjoys serving, especially when the service is titanic.
- True service does not concern itself with acknowledgment or the size of the act.
- Self righteous service acts based on moods and whims.
- True service acts faithfully because there is a need, despite it’s mood.
- Self righteous service is concerned about the glorification of an individual, fracturing community.
- True service builds community. It quietly goes about caring for the needs of others without concerning itself with the glorification of any person.
- Self righteous service comes through human effort and eventually wears out.
- True service comes from a Divine Source and does not tire or grow weary of doing good.
When I first wanted to get involved in ministry, I wanted to do the things that were at the forefront of the ministry, that people would notice and give me praise for. I wanted people to notice that I was serving. I soon realized that I was not getting the acknowledgment I was seeking and quit serving altogether.
As I grow deeper in my understanding of Christian service, I try not to concern myself with anything but simply caring for others and pleasing God. Of course, I am not even close to having achieved this perfectly, but I keep trying and in doing so, God blesses me with more opportunities to serve in a way that will bring blessings to both myself and others.
In the next post I will write about humility and door mats.
15. 05.
Anyone who knows me well will probably laugh if they see that I am writing on the topic of the discipline of submission. I am not exactly known for how well I submit to others. However, the purpose of writing is not necessarily to tell others how to live, rather, to explain the discipline and, in turn, reminding myself of how I should be living.
I would like to focus on what Foster calls the seven acts of submission:
- Submission to the Triune God.
We surrender our body, mind, and spirit into the hands of God to do with us what he pleases. - Submission to the Scripture.
We yield ourselves first to hear the Word, second to receive the Word, and thrid to obey the Word. - Submission to our family.
The primary deed of submission is a commitment to listen to the other family members. - Submission to our neighbors and those we meet in the course of our daily lives.
No task is too small, too trifling, for each one is an opportunity to live in submission. - Submission to the believing community, the body of Christ.
Most frequently, acts of submission are spontaneous opportunities for little tasks of service. - Submission to the broken and despised
Our first responsibility is to be among the “widows and orphans”. - Submission to the world.
Our act of submission is a determination to live as a responsible member of an increasingly irresponsible world
Please Note: I would strongly encourage you to read Richard J. Foster’s Celebration of Discipline to get the full message of these disciplines.
14. 05.
We were doing some yard work, and I had a wheel barrow full of branches and leaves that I needed to bring to the burn pile. No help was needed, but I asked Caleb to help me, and he thought it was the greatest thing ever to help his dad. He worked and worked, grunted and fell and, with my help, he got right back up and continued to work. Although he was absolutely no help to me whatsoever, I was pleased to see him try, and he thought he was doing all the work.
In the same way, our Heavenly Father does not need our help. He is fully capable of doing everything himself. However, that is not the point. The point is to have a relationship with His children, to involve us in His work. We sometimes think we are doing all the work ourselves, we grunt and fall and, with our Fathers help, we get right back up and continue the work he invites us to do.
I am proud of my son, and the enthusiasm he has to help me. I pray that his enthusiasm will one day be directed towards helping his Heavenly Father. But for now, I must be the closest thing to his Heavenly Father I can possibly be, so that when the time comes for the Lord to make Himself known to Caleb, he will have already got to know Him through me.
William Knelsen