Ch. 7 – Appropriate Smallness (The Practice of Servanthood)

“We are all worms. But I do believe that I am a glowworm”- Winston Churchill.  What kind of worm are you? I think I’ll go with gummy worm. They’re chewy, flexible, and kids love them.

 

We may not be worms, but compared to this vast universe—we are considerably small. If you’ve seen the movie Horton Hears a Who, Horton, the elephant, discovers the microscopic world of Whoville that exists on a spec of dust. He places that spec on a flower which translates to quite an Adventure for Whoville. I won’t go into the details of the movie (although it is good movie to see with the kids). The movie ends with the narrator disclosing that earth, or the Jungle of Nool, is just one speck, like Whoville, among numerous other specs floating in outer space. It’s just a child’s movie, but it gives you perspective of just how small we are.
 

In this week’s chapter we attempt to tackle our ego. Egos are awkward to manage. They can easily be overinflated because they easily are fooled by delusions of grandeur. An overinflated ego is difficult to handle because it makes a human into a life sized bobblehead doll. That’s what I assume anyway, when God looks down on us in our foolishness. As for an underinflated ego, perhaps there is no such thing. Perhaps an underinflated ego is actually an ego that was once overinflated but at some point was popped. Therefore, since the ego is fragile and difficult to keep in check, how do we do manage it?

 

The Christian practice of Servanthood is the key. Ortberg lays out five practical ways that we must serve others if we claim to be a follower of Christ. I’m not going to cover all five, but I will share the one that hit home with me the most, The Ministry of Being Interrupted (p.120). This idea of serving basically boils down to the willingness to be interrupted. I can get so consumed with my plans for the day or the week that when they are interrupted I get aggravated or stressed. Even if I have plenty of time to get “my stuff” done, I still can get annoyed when I’m bothered. One way I have combated this is I try not to fill my schedule up. I realize I am not superman and I can’t do it all. So, when I am interrupted, I can love and serve with the correct attitude. This is especially important for serving your spouse and children. Think about it like this, if you’re always busy and you don’t have time to be interrupted by your child’s request for help with homework or your spouse's appeal for conversation—you have an ego problem. It’s not that you think you’re better than your family. Instead, it’s a mindset that you are caring the world on your shoulders and if what your doing doesn’t get done it’s going to collapse. This is a ridiculous notion for the worm, the spec we are. Proverbs 3:5-6^(NIV) says, “ Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight”. When we don’t trust God in this way it makes serving others too cumbersome because we are too busy leaning on our own understanding and abilities and so any interruption becomes an aggravation instead of an opportunity to love.

 

Another way I have tried to be available for life’s interruption goes back to our discipline of slowing down. We’ve all sped passed the car broken down on the highway because we’re in a hurry to get somewhere. That may not be the best example. In the age of cell phones, most anyone can get help within minutes. But let me give you an example of how I practiced this just last night and I am so glad I did…

 

…My life is filled with interpretations, not just because I’m a Pastor, but I have four active kids. Between school, sports, music, choir, and church activities—my kids keep my wife and I hopping. Last night my son had basketball practice at the YMCA. This is a scheduled interruption I know about ahead of time. I’m busy and I still have this blog to write, lesson to do for my small group, and a lesson for next Sunday just to name a few. I am tempted to drop my son off instead of being visibly available to support him by watching his practice and then sit out in my car and get some work done (which I have done before). But this interruption is an opportunity to serve. Instead, I went inside (with the rest of the parents) and watched my son practice. I kept my phone in my pocket and engaged in conversation with a few parents. I connected with one dad as we talked about the struggles in raising sons/boys to become respectful men. He shared a little of his troubled past and I shared my experiences. It was a conversation I never expected to have, but because I slowed down and checked my ego at the door—I turned an interruption into an opportunity to serve.

 

The sin of pride is arguably at the root of all sin and the best way to combat our ego is to serve others. Jesus exemplified this in his life—Mark 10:45^{NIV  “}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.” I like how Ortberg puts it— “serving is God’s business”. Serving is not what God does, it’s who HE is. As his creation, we reflect his image when serving is who we are. Serving becomes who we are when we fill our ego with Christ. When serving is something we do, then the more we do, the more our ego is inflated. We feed our delusion of who we are when its based on what we do or accomplish. Then on the other hand, if we don’t do as much as everyone else, if our accomplishments or good deeds don’t measure up to others—we think less of ourselves. The lie we believe is that we think we are who we are based on what we do. But Jesus comes along and shows us that we are who we are based on how God made us. Therefore, serving is not what we do to find value, it’s what we do because we (the lowly little worm) are valued by God. Thus, serving is who we are, we are servants!!!. I want to encourage you to take this discipline of serving seriously. Embrace life’s interruptions as an opportunity to serve. Even more, look at your schedule this week or this month and try to turn some of those scheduled interruptions into opportunities.
 

Blessings,

Jason