Thursday, February 5, 2015

Serve Boldly


I really wanted to be an NBA star when I was little. Well, “little” is relative. As a young boy I was playing basketball in my driveway. I can tell you a million memories of the shots taken and how my life was surrounded by basketball. Yet, it was my final year of high school as I sat on the bench with my team down 50 points, that I realized this was not my future. Instead, I was known as the guy that you could go to when you needed someone to listen and give counsel. I had friends in high school who would seek my advice about all kinds of things. It wasn’t like my life was the most put together either.  I was constantly seeking others out about my relationship issues as I waited to find the woman I would marry.

As I continued into college, I made friends with many people, sometimes too many to manage. Then there were those that chose to mentor me. I had great pre-seminary friends who were older that cared for me.  As time grew and my career path became clear, it was evident that relationships were something I valued.  It came up in personality tests that I took at the seminary, and in the first two churches where I served.  In fact, as I considered the call to Mt. Calvary, it was helpful for me to realize that I was a relationship guy, not just the “youth guy” as I had been in those other churches.  I wanted to connect all types of people (through relationships) to the power of the Word of God.

Even though I value relationships, are there times in my life when I serve others? I look around and see this person passionate about helping those with cancer. I see another person passionate about the jobless or homeless. As I thought about each of those, I realized that I get paid for serving others.  So now the question becomes, am I truly serving with passion? The only way to “Serve Boldly” or be to an extraordinary servant is to ask these important questions – questions whose answers are found beyond our desires in the deep parts of our heart.

After that 50-point loss in high school, I went to my coach and asked him why he didn’t play me. My question was less about me being good enough to play and more about our relationship (me & the coach) and how hard I had worked to be faithful to the team. Even back then, basketball was more about relationships for me and less about a desire to be an NBA player. If the desire truly had been about the NBA, I think I would have worked even harder and tried to get more muscle. I just loved the game, and enjoyed the relationships. Some of my favorite days were going over to Zach’s house before games and chilling with all our buddies.

It took years for me to realize that my “Extraordinary Servanthood,” or my
“Serve Boldly-ness” was going to come in those moments of my relationships where I could show I care and how I love the uniqueness of that particular person. I loved going to Belize and serving, but mostly because of the relationships I formed while I was there. I loved helping youth because I had some challenging experiences as a youth myself and wanted to help them in their relationships. Every time Mindy and I face something, it creates another opportunity to help others. Opportunities to “Serve Boldly” can be found in the everyday things, like being a parent, but also in the challenges and tragedies of life.

Most of our stories are covered up with dreams- like mine were. We are distracted by the outside initial desire without looking much deeper.  However, when we look deeper, we are able to see how God made us uniquely. When Jesus shared with the disciples about being a servant for all and laying down His life as a ransom, He wasn’t putting a specific job out there. Sure, the apostles were chosen for certain reasons and they were gifted in that very way of carrying on the message. Yet, there are so many people uniquely positioned to help – in their own unique way. Jesus’ wide-open description of servanthood allows us to use our gifts in ways where we can truly “Serve Boldly.”

Just as we can “Serve Boldly” as individuals, we can also “Serve Boldly” as a church. At Mt. Calvary, we are uniquely gifted. Over the next several weeks we will highlight some of those characteristics, which an outsider to Mt. Calvary helped us see. As we recognize these gifts, it will help us hold onto our mission to be extraordinary servants. In a culture that is increasingly more focused on charities and serving others, what a great mission to have! As a body, we (Mt. Calvary) can help define some of those areas to serve in/for the community. We already know we care about schools and our preschool. We know that kids are a part of our heart’s mission. That is evident to our community too, since many of them tell us that loving children is something we do well.  But what are the other ways we can be extraordinary servants and “Serve Boldly?” The Lutheran Foundation is using their Serve Boldly campaign to help churches start this type of conversation. If you could look at a church and say, “They ‘Serve Boldly’ by ________ (fill in the blank), which is making an impact in the community.” They would know what each church does and how they use their gifts to Serve Boldly. Our mission pairs perfectly with this campaign. The survey each of us will fill out will help us gather your thoughts how God can use the gifts of Mt. Calvary to serve this world. It will help our young adults and young families to grasp the energy that many of our long time members have. 

It is great to have fresh eyes on something we are so familiar with. Being an extraordinary servant is every day language here at Mt. Calvary.  Through this series, I hope that every member can say at least 3 specific ways we as a church are doing just that (being extraordinary servants). This week we kick off the Serve Boldly series and then we will spend every Wednesday Lenten service discussing a new piece of it. You can fill out your Serve Boldly surveys here at church, or you can take it online. You will see Serve Boldly coffee cups and napkins and a ramped up fellowship hour. It will be a fun weekend to remember the mission we hold dear, have discussions about it, and then come back to the very life of Jesus – who taught us how to be extraordinary servants.

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