Serving & Leading Across the Street & Around the World

Mother Teresa ~ “Love cannot remain by itself-it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action and that action is service.”[1]

Guatemala Pillowcase Dresses

As we spread love through our hands, feet, and heart with those in our house, across the street, or around the world, what does that love in action look like? During my travels in summer 2016, I read Nik Ripken’s book, Insanity of Obedience. Though a book about sharing the good news of Christ, the root of his learnings are very applicable to you and I as we put Mother Teresa’s love to action through service.

Insanity of Obedience follows Nik’s first book, Insanity of God. Both books come from Nik and his wife, Ruth, travels to experience what Christ is doing in over 72 of the hardest countries for Christians to live. They spent time with believers persecuted at times daily for their faith learning about their journey, their faith, and their culture. They recorded the stories in various formats and rendered them into these two fine books. Insanity of God shares the stories of faith, persistence, hope, and love of the persecuted across the world. In this second book, Insanity of Obedience, Nik provides insight into how to go across the street or around the world to share the message of God’s salvation.

As I read Insanity of Obedience, I constantly found myself applying the root principles of his teaching to my everyday life and experiences going out serving and leading in the workplace, across the street, or around the world. His focus was on the missionary, but I seek to show its applicability to you and me as we put love to action through service in our daily lives. To obtain the depth of appreciation for the applicability, I explore this in three parts in order to provide a deeper context to each of Nik’s.

Franklin College Farewell

Nik shares a journey through one country as he sought to understand “what makes a good worker from the West?”[2] Community after community, he heard basically the same story and the same person’s name. “We don’t know why, but we just love him.”[3] Finally, Nik pursued a deeper understanding of why everyone loved this particular person so much. The answer startled him and made me think twice about my actions as I live my life. They responded, “He needs us. The rest of you have never needed us.”[4] People seek respect and to be valued and loved, but so many times due to reasons I cannot explain this gets lost. Our society, though wanting equality, fails at equality. When do you walk into a cafeteria and see an administrator, staff, or technology personnel choosing to go sit with maintenance or cleaning personnel? In my experience, the occurrence is way too rare and more disappointing is when questioning looks are directed at groups that are embracing fellowship across societal boundaries. Why rare? I do not know, but I do know that these individuals are grateful, appreciative, and respect those that do show them genuine equality.

How do we treat those around us, especially those that are different than us, who may live with different life expectations? Differences are not just across the world in situations of extreme poverty. They are in our own backyard sometimes in our own family. Nik challenges us to reach deeper into the lives of others understanding who they are, where they come from, and what they truly seek in life. Their experiences and desires may not align with ours, and if we are honest with ourselves, the expectations we place on self and others may not even be our own but societies.

As societal norms or personal desires are forced onto others, individuals begin to lose their dignity and become passive partners in the process. Nik shares from the people, “You bring everything, expecting us to sit passively and simply appreciate everything that you give us. It is as if we are not worthy of contributing anything of value ourselves. It is all about your giving. And we feel like we should simple sit quietly and receive.”[5] Think about your life, have you ever felt like a mere object, a peg in the wheel: at work, at school, at church, on a committee? You realize that your thoughts, your opinions do not matter. It is only about your presence for quota or your hands and minds for labor. You find yourself unmotivated, unhappy, and discontent. Take those feelings and thoughts and apply to your actions as you go across the street or around the world sharing your love and gifts with others. Is the sharing and leading in collaboration with those you encounter in your house or the community or are others treated as objects, mere pegs in a wheel with no opinion or abilities to help, especially if they differ from your own?

Ghana ~ Dance,
Naming Ceremony, Local Food

This challenges us to go out and engage others in service. Service is not about serving or even leading but walking and living with others in the process. This requires gaining an understanding of the people, culture, and traditions of the people before, during, and after the experience. Their expectations and needs often differ from our societal influenced desires, and people love to feel that you genuinely care about who they are. All it takes is stopping to engage and listen to them as the journey unfolds.

Service is not just about you and me but about the overall community providing sustainability and hope for all. Service includes the work we do daily and the encounters at the grocery store and on the roadways. Efosa, CEO of Move Together, sums this up nicely, “Service ultimately is meant to be bidirectional. It provides the chance to fulfill others and to be fulfilled ourselves.”[6] I personally believe that the greatest piece is being fulfilled ourselves by the genuine love and hope of others.

Next, I explore the concept of being bait instead of fishermen, serving the movement instead of leading it.

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[1] Teresa, M. (1983). Words to love by… Notre Dame, IN: Ava Maria Press, 75.

[2] Ripken, N. (2014). The insanity of obedience: Walking with Jesus in tough places. Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 249.

[3] Ripken, N. 249

[4] Ripken, N. 251

[5] Ripken, N. 251

[6] Move Together. (January 04, 2017). Reflection posted to https://www.facebook.com/MoveTogetherInc/.