How comfortable are you of being called a servant?
I asked this because someone also asked me why I want to be one, or stay as one....
Reflecting, I realised the very first song I liked singing as a child was "Make Me A Servant"! I know because my sister brought up disliking hearing me singing it out loud a lot. It frustrated her that I was singing to be a maid, hahahah. Jumping to now, even my current workforce role has the word "servant" attached to it! It seems I have lived my whole life actively choosing to perform the role of one.
Images of poverty, hardship, unhappiness, insecurity, lack and need were brought in. Those are a few of what traditionally being a servant signifies, apparently. I have been exposed to and lived within such settings. But I am not in the extreme state of any of those, partly because I am currently located in a country with a stable environment/government. I have not (yet) personally/spiritually experienced such strong "life-shakers", but I know of other faithful servants who have.... I was also told I don't look like one, or one that should be one; or one who would enjoy being one...?? How is a servant meant to look like??!!??
I was fortunate to have worked for several good organisations, with diverse positions. My motivations were never salary-based though I was at times blessed with more. I was never in a role where my performance resulted in financial gain/bonuses. Once I worked for the marketing department of an internationally famous sports association - though there were awesome perks and blinding glitz, the experience confirmed I did not like the mentality/industry ;-).
I felt most in my element when helping others was our priority. Community service. Community protection. Training of colleagues to enable them to perform their roles which ensures the safety and improvement of lives of many. Those were and are my work passion. But I have been in positions where one of my functions was revenue collection. I was always uncomfortable to chase money, although I did it dutifully to the best of my ability, because those workplaces entrusted me with the responsibilities.
I enjoyed most parts of my servant work. So I can honestly say being a servant is NOT only about those images listed above. I agree that such work exposed me to... darkness and unpleasant knowledge and experiences. It is to be expected when in such roles(?), but there were also a lot of encouraging results and moments when the thankless tasks were worth it. The servant lifestyle, for example overseas doing mission work or volunteer work or public service, could include some of those troubles and dangers, depending on which country they are serving. But they are what helps the community where the government does not have (enough) resources to provide for its people.
What matters is the purpose or motivation behind the servitude. Personal challenges (self-centred); financial gain (if money is motivation, it is mostly survival/work, not servitude); to improve the local community (others-centred); to provide employment while getting rich (self-centredness veiled in corporate visions, or else a much bigger portion of the profit would be spent back to improving the local quality of life instead of self); spreading the gospel (God-focused); and much more. Of course it is not black and white; we are driven to take care of "business" (benefiting self and/or others) to survive and have quality of life; and we show good works and good will of services in forms we can best communicate - majority of us well-meaning and well-intentioned, though sometimes efforts are badly delivered.
It is best to look at the heart, who the service is really serving - ourselves, other people, God? Combination of those? Or not at all? With the correct driving force, and with our priorities in order, despite... faithful servitude could result in a lifetime of satisfaction. Happiness too. Hopeful :-).
*Please do not write where I work in the comments section, it's private, thanks :-).*
I asked this because someone also asked me why I want to be one, or stay as one....
Reflecting, I realised the very first song I liked singing as a child was "Make Me A Servant"! I know because my sister brought up disliking hearing me singing it out loud a lot. It frustrated her that I was singing to be a maid, hahahah. Jumping to now, even my current workforce role has the word "servant" attached to it! It seems I have lived my whole life actively choosing to perform the role of one.
Images of poverty, hardship, unhappiness, insecurity, lack and need were brought in. Those are a few of what traditionally being a servant signifies, apparently. I have been exposed to and lived within such settings. But I am not in the extreme state of any of those, partly because I am currently located in a country with a stable environment/government. I have not (yet) personally/spiritually experienced such strong "life-shakers", but I know of other faithful servants who have.... I was also told I don't look like one, or one that should be one; or one who would enjoy being one...?? How is a servant meant to look like??!!??
I was fortunate to have worked for several good organisations, with diverse positions. My motivations were never salary-based though I was at times blessed with more. I was never in a role where my performance resulted in financial gain/bonuses. Once I worked for the marketing department of an internationally famous sports association - though there were awesome perks and blinding glitz, the experience confirmed I did not like the mentality/industry ;-).
I felt most in my element when helping others was our priority. Community service. Community protection. Training of colleagues to enable them to perform their roles which ensures the safety and improvement of lives of many. Those were and are my work passion. But I have been in positions where one of my functions was revenue collection. I was always uncomfortable to chase money, although I did it dutifully to the best of my ability, because those workplaces entrusted me with the responsibilities.
I enjoyed most parts of my servant work. So I can honestly say being a servant is NOT only about those images listed above. I agree that such work exposed me to... darkness and unpleasant knowledge and experiences. It is to be expected when in such roles(?), but there were also a lot of encouraging results and moments when the thankless tasks were worth it. The servant lifestyle, for example overseas doing mission work or volunteer work or public service, could include some of those troubles and dangers, depending on which country they are serving. But they are what helps the community where the government does not have (enough) resources to provide for its people.
What matters is the purpose or motivation behind the servitude. Personal challenges (self-centred); financial gain (if money is motivation, it is mostly survival/work, not servitude); to improve the local community (others-centred); to provide employment while getting rich (self-centredness veiled in corporate visions, or else a much bigger portion of the profit would be spent back to improving the local quality of life instead of self); spreading the gospel (God-focused); and much more. Of course it is not black and white; we are driven to take care of "business" (benefiting self and/or others) to survive and have quality of life; and we show good works and good will of services in forms we can best communicate - majority of us well-meaning and well-intentioned, though sometimes efforts are badly delivered.
It is best to look at the heart, who the service is really serving - ourselves, other people, God? Combination of those? Or not at all? With the correct driving force, and with our priorities in order, despite... faithful servitude could result in a lifetime of satisfaction. Happiness too. Hopeful :-).
*Please do not write where I work in the comments section, it's private, thanks :-).*
Lunch time reading - great ;-)
ReplyDeleteBeing happy as a servant may depend on the given environmet. As an example i had been very happy as a servant while working as a technical consultant, mostly as a one man show. It gave me the chance to notice quickly if my service did indeed help my customers or not. I knew if i achieved something or not. In total contrast to that is my current busimess experience where many "layers" try to position themselves between me an customers,.which decreases efficiency and motibation drasticaly - sadly i am forced with lots of money to proceed. Therefore in business as an employee it may be tricky to get both in the same job, "happines as servant" and "good salary".
It's different in private life - and everone seems to act slightly diferent here. I have not even fully understood myself, but noticed that i am happy to serve if i see results e.g. booking Badminton courts and see people having fun. Sadly it's very different if emotions are involved - which is bloody stupid - but i can not totally switch it off. The more i am emotionally connected in which way ever, the more i look and value responses - or crossfire by others. If the response is a beer by him or a kiss by her, i am happy to serve again. If he kicks my arse or she ignores it all e.g. by keeping even more distance, i am less happy, but often stupid enough to continue serving coz i can not help myself. Sounds nuts - and i guess it is.
At the end of the day serving as such is good, but requires motivation.
Or?
-Ulrich
P.S. funny to type this into the little window on my mobile's browser. Can not see the beginning of a sentence, no autocorrection. Fair chance that the result may be slightly hillarious - at least worth a laughter ;-)