Our last ‘word for the day’ in Nicaragua was ‘serve.’ As John Bland, the founder of ‘Amigos for Christ,’ welcomed us on our first day, he started his talk in an unusual way: “I first want to introduce you all to a special group.” He pointed to five Nicaraguan women who varied in age from mid-twenties to mid-fifties. “Ladies, will you please stand.”
As they rose, John continued: “These ladies get up at four o’clock each morning and begin preparing the breakfast you will enjoy. Then, after we leave for the villages, they clean the kitchen, then clean our dorms, then clean the toilets. This takes a lot of time and it is a thankless job. It is then time for them to prepare the dinner we will enjoy after our day of hard work. After they finish cleaning the kitchen, they leave the base around eight PM. These ladies don’t ask for any praise or attention. They are servants… and model the attitude of Jesus that I want to possess. Will you guys please give them a round of applause?”
As I heard John’s words and watched the small group take their seats, I smiled at the ‘upside-down values’ of the Kingdom of God. ‘The last shall be first.’ ‘The greatest shall be your servant.’ Perhaps without intending, the leader of ‘Amigos for Christ’ proclaimed what their organization was all about by honoring those whom most would call ‘the least of these.’
For any of us Americans who thought we deserved credit for going to serve a few days in a foreign land, we witnessed the power of ‘lifestyle service’ through humble women. It is easy to go work hard for a week, knowing we would soon return to our modern luxuries. It is more challenging to intentionally decide to be a servant… always. If I knew that becoming a servant of Jesus Christ meant that I would basically become nothing, would I sign up?
But that’s what Jesus did: “[Jesus], being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant…” (Philippians 2:6-7) And He teaches us the path to true greatness: “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it 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.” (Mark 10:42-45)
Let’s walk in His steps!
“You call Me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” John 13:13-15