The Sacrifice of Service

CBN.com - ... Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
-- I Peter 5:5

With each passing day, each passing hour for that matter, the world in which we live is becoming a society of self-service. Self-service gasoline, banking, and purchasing groceries are quickly becoming just another facet of every day life here in America. Most people have no problem living with this accelerated pace of convenience that is permeating even the smallest of communities. We all chalk it up as the progression of civilization.

But how do you feel about the service of self? In other words, a persons desire to satisfy themselves without taking others into consideration. If the word selfish comes to mind as you read this you are definitely on the right track. More and more, as we hastily speed further away from the 20^th century and dive headlong into the new millennium, there appears to be an increasing moral disconnect in a persons ability to distinguish between selfishness and selflessness. This is highly evident in the world of sports.

I was highly disheartened last month to learn of comments that were made about former Arizona Cardinals safety Pat Tillman. Following the 2001 NFL season, 26 year old Tillman walked away from a three year, $3.6 million dollar contract, to enlist in the Army with his brother. Feeling a surge of patriotism in the aftermath of the harrowing terrorist attacks of September 11^th, Tillman is believed to be the first NFL player to leave his team to enlist for military service since World War II.

Deployed in early March, Tillman was believed to be on the ground fighting with the highly trained Army Rangers in war torn Iraq when former teammate Simeon Rice made the following comments about him on a nationally syndicated radio show.

"He really wasnt that good, not really. He was good enough to play in Arizona, but thats just like the XFL."

Upon further questioning on the topic of Tillman, Rice offered this. "Youve got to give kudos to a guy like that because he did it for his own reasons. Maybe its the Rambo movies, maybe its Sylvester Stallone, Rocky, whatever compels him."

Hey Simeon, have you ever considered that Pat Tillman left the NFL for love of his country? Or perhaps he wanted to help insure that people who earn extreme quantities of money for playing a childs game will continue to have that right. Maybe it is because the true definition of a patriot lies in people like Tillman, not the team that plays its home games in Foxboro, Massachusetts. I hate to burst your bubble but I dont think it is because he wants to play war games like Rambo. He apparently has a tremendous sense of humility and respect for his country.

In essence, Tillman has learned to place selflessness in front of selfishness.

To professional sports credit, all of the leagues have strongly supported the war effort through various means. From wearing patches on their uniforms to stress solidarity to establishing email pen pal programs with GIs, the war effort has been corporately supported.

However, there does appear to be a high degree of self-indulgence in relation to a professional athletes career. These are not the same people as compared to past generations. Baseball Hall of Famers Ted Williams and Bob Feller could have very easily used their athletic notoriety to wrangle away from the grasp of Uncle Sam beckoning them into serving their country. But they did not. Feller, despite winning 24, 27, and 25 games the previous three seasons, enlisted in the military just two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Williams left the major leagues on his own volition not once but twice to serve his country as a fighter pilot during World War II and the Korean War. Why? Because they each placed selflessness over selfishness.

This brings me back to my original question. How do you feel about the service of self? Is this a concept that is very important to you or are you more inclined to favor the selflessness of service?

It is not my intention to point the finger at professional athletes and declare that they are unpatriotic. I do so only because they appear to represent an ever increasing viewpoint here in the United States. That is, let someone else take care of the problem for me while I stand back and cheer you on. Patriotism aside, it is very easy for us to approach life from the mindset of what is in it for me? Due to the freedom of living our lives as we see fit, it is very easy lose to sight of serving others for the betterment of those around us.

What does the Bible have to say about this?

In

In this passage, Jesus told James and John that true greatness is derived in serving others. Unfortunately, most companies and organizations measure greatness by the degree of personal achievements. To serve Jesus Christ effectively is quite the opposite. We are to serve others. Rather than seeking to have our own needs met we are commanded to minister to the needs of others.

Developing a servants attitude is far from being an easy task. To be an effective servant requires sacrifice, endurance, long suffering, but most importantly, a selfless attitude. At times our motives might be misconstrued; causing people to question why we are not being so self-effacing ourselves. Have you ever heard someone say to you, why are you being so nice to me? I dont deserve this.

The bottom line is to have people to see Gods love through your actions. We are to continually give of ourselves regardless of how people react to us. It is important to remember that Jesus promises greatness in man by a willingness to be a servant.

Tell me what you think

information from The Transformer, study Bible used in this article.