I have been on staff at YWAM Mazatlán for 1 year and so far have worked with Discipleship Training School (DTS). It has been amazing. One of the neat things is that you have so much to write about. So many testimonies of outreach and people's lives changed. It makes me feel like a real missionary. Everyone at home can see that I am being 'fruitful' in my ministry. But what happens when you are asked to change roles into something behind the scenes? Something that has little recognition, little to write home about, not many amazing testmonies, no one to lead, what happens then? Your heart is exposed for what you really desire.
Learning to serve can be hard. What about if you are serving someone else's vision? What if what your boss or leader demands from you is unjust? Our world says that the higher you get the greater you become. It becomes about how high we can get up a corparte ladder or how big our pay check is. Sometimes we tranfer this mindset to the Kingdom of God. I am the 'director of...' I am the Senior Pastor... etc. Sometimes in our hearts if we are honest we kind of like having a label and a name tag and having people who work 'for' me. However every time I read the Bible, I read Jesus saying something completely different.
The Kingdom of God is upside down. I love that. Jesus likes to mess with how we think somethimes. But what He says is radical for how we view life.
In Matthew 20:20 the mother of James and John came to Jesus to ask if they could sit at His right hand in heaven. They were thinking in the corparte ladder of heaven. The other disciples were indignant...maybe they didn't think to ask first.
However in verse 25 and 26 Jesus gives us an insight into His views about who is the greatest. He says, "You know that the rulers in this worls lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever, wants to be a leader among you must be your servant". He says, in the kingdom it is different, you want to be great. Look like the least, serve the most people.
In John 13 Jesus washes the feet of the disciples and states, now do the same for everone else. The greatest gets low. You want to be a great in Jesus' eyes? Don't look for recognition from people or a pretty name-tag. Just have a heart that wants to serve wherever, be happy unnoticed knowing that Jesus sees our hearts.
I love that about YWAM. Whether you are cooking in the kitchen, staffing a DTS or working on budgets in the office, as YWAM Staff we are all apart of something that is greater than ourselves. In our worldly perspective, serving can feel like you are the bottom dog, but in Our Kingdom you are the greatest! Here's to learning to serve!