"We Offer Service: There Is No Higher Purpose"
"We Offer Service:
There Is No Higher Purpose"
One of my favorite movies "Peaceful Warrior" (based on a
book that was required reading for Spiritual Training back in
Ninjutsu) has this one scene that is absolutely my Sensei when
I was a teenager in the trailer park terrified that I would never
"become somebody". I forgot the lesson and spent 15 years of
my life chasing travel and degrees and racking up student loan
debt and then afterwards hating my "nobody jobs" before it
came back to me, The Honor of Service.
In the film scene, the 20 year old college kid Dan,
who is in training for the Olympics says to his new mentor:
‘Hey Socrates, if you know so much,
why are you working at a gas station?’
And the mentor replies standing under the ‘Full Service Sign’
‘This is a SERVICE Station. We offer SERVICE Here.
There is NO Higher Purpose’
Dan the young college kid retorts:
‘Than pumping Gas???’
Socrates replies: ‘Than Service to others’.
The Messiah taught us this first,
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Torah?”
And He said to him, “‘You shall love Adonai your God with
All your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it,
‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
The entire Torah and the Prophets hang on these
Two commandments.”
Gospel of Matthew 22:36-40 (Tree of Life Version)
Linguistics bear witness as well:
Deacon means ‘one who serves’ (by Meeting Needs) in Greek.
Samurai means ‘one who serves’ (by Valor) in Japanese.
Minister means ‘one who serves’ (by Leadership) in English.
Maybe our Congregations should be more
‘Service Stations’ than Book Clubs and Country Clubs???
Maybe that’s why the Germans call Church Events
a ‘GottesDienst’ (Service To God)??
It doesn’t mean ‘Service to Ego’ or even ‘Service to Man’.
But service to our neighbor is part of service to God
per Leviticus 19:18, and the triune roles of the Levite as Priest,
Worshiper and Social Worker display this as well.
We are STILL a Kingdom of Priests upon this Earth.
"You have made them for our God,
a kingdom and kohanim,
and they shall reign upon the earth.”
Revelation 5:10 (Tree of Life Version)
As such Kingdom Laborers we are tasked with teaching others
HOW to love God and to Love their neighbor,
primarily by example 💙.
Perhaps this is why one famous preacher required all ministers to
scrub the Church's Toilettes before he would let them
speak behind the Church's Pulpit?
Thanks for making us read all those books
Sensei/Adopted Dad! 💙
The Genius Of The 5 Fold Ministry Gifts" Daniel Kolenda
Book Link Here
If this has blessed you, please consider supporting the Cause:
Brian Newman
PO BOX 671
Ooltewah,TN 37363
paypal.me/letstalkshalom
Visit http://www.shalomtoyourheart.com for more resources.
What a rush of emotion!
ReplyDeleteBrian, your words are going to change the world. Mark my word. I feel like that may even be His word.
You continue to write in a way that is so inspiring with such a call to action!
This is such a beautiful tapestry of words! I’m crying I’m so proud of you!
I almost didn’t read it right now because the formatting showed up funky on my phone, (there’s probably a mobile view setting you can click to fix that) but I’m so thankful I read that just now. It was energizing!
What a wonderful day it will be will churches are service to God and not men!
Thank you Melissa 💙 I just figured out how to respond on here!
ReplyDelete