Serving with dignity

Many people are conscious of their position before others, and sometimes their hesitation to serve others is because they consider it below their dignity. For example, some think that some acts of service are 'menial' jobs meant only for 'low class' people to do. When it comes to such things, they wait to be served by others and would not do such things even in their homes.

Then comes Jesus, the Lord of all. He takes a basin of water and a towel, and starts wiping the disciples' feet clean! Peter's immediate reaction was to tell Jesus that He shouldn't be doing things like that (because of His position)! But read what was going on in Jesus' mind, "Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself" (Jn.13:3,4).

Jesus knew who He was, and He was not afraid that by doing this menial work He was going to become any less. His identity, meaning and purpose of life were not dependent on what people thought about Him. Even if some people thought less of Him because He was doing what only the lowest of slaves in society were expected to do, He knew He would still be the Son of God and the Lord of lords. Those who have spiritual insight are able to recognise the greatness of Jesus in being willing to humble Himself (Php.2:5-9). But even if other people thought less of Him for stooping down like this, it did not matter to Him because it would not in any way change the reality of His being. He was secure in His identity.

The insecurity people have about their position, dignity, etc., comes from basing their value on what people think about them. For the people of the world who have excluded God from their mind, that is all the value they look for. We know how unpredictable people's opinions can be. One day they would praise Jesus and want Him to be their King, and a few days later they would want Him to be crucified. This is why God warns us not to place too much value on people's opinions but to live remembering that it is only to God that we will finally have to give an account (He.4:13). If we don't learn to pay utmost attention to what God thinks about us and keep away fears about man, we won't be able to be secure in our thinking (Pr.29:25).

Many times people 'serve' others in different ways in order to receive attention and praise (Mt.23:5). But the real value of our service depends on the motive that God looks for in our heart (1Sa.16:7). If we love them and therefore we are concerned about them, when we see some need we can pray for them and also serve them in any other way. A godly way to do this is to try and do it as secretly as possible, and not to draw attention to it, because then we only want to bless the others in some way and we are not looking for praise.

People want to be great, but the greatness Jesus values is when we serve (Mk.10:43,44).