Given: Service

By Rev. Jonathan Bakker

Did you ever play the license plate game while riding along on the highway? Whether it was looking for plates starting with every letter of the alphabet or plates from another country (I’m a Canadian), it was always fun to see how long it would take to complete the alphabet in order or find the first foreign or out-of-state plate. Yet, with all the portable electronics available today, the license plate game may soon be going the way of the compact disc.

Have no fear, for there is another game that parents, high school seniors, and college students can play on any college campus in America. Take a walk, and count the number of steps you have to take before you see a sign promoting leadership. Or, if you are feeling particularly adventurous, count the number of seconds that go by in a conversation with a student worker in the admission department before they begin to describe how the unique programs of their university mold students into leaders for tomorrow.

Do I sound a bit cynical about leadership? I admit that I’m laying it on pretty thick; developing leadership skills is important for anyone who wants to thrive in college and the workforce. I wonder, however, whether the massive emphasis on leadership among college students ends up returning the dividends hoped for by parents and administrators. Can we ever reach the point where we have enough leaders? Can we become oversaturated with leadership? What is quickly learned in environments that promote and encourage leadership skills is that there is a time to take the lead and a time to step aside and allow another to lead.

We can all name famous leaders—their ideas inspire people to agree with them and their passion motivates others to action—but what about famous followers? Off the top of your head, can you name five others who were on the boats with Christopher Columbus when he first sailed to North America? What about five of Sir Winston Churchill’s cabinet ministers? Even the average pastor would be hard pressed to name five other members of the Wittenberg faculty who supported Martin Luther’s teachings!

There is certainly a difference to be noted between those who lead and those who follow, but there can be no doubt that both are equally necessary ingredients for most major accomplishments. It is absurd to think of one man crossing an uncharted ocean, and it took much more than the wits and charisma of Churchill to lead a war against the Germans. Where would Lutherans be without those who followed him proclaiming the Gospel alongside Luther and spreading it after he died?

Leadership is always supported by the service of those who follow, though those who serve rarely receive much of a share of the credit with the leader. Leadership may get the glory, but service is more than merely a necessary element in achieving goals and objectives. Service is a gift.

Yes, you read that correctly. It is a gift to serve. If you do not believe that, speak with someone who has given up a Saturday sleeping in to help pick up litter on campus. Or talk to someone who traded in their plans (and budget) for spring break on the beach with friends for a trip to volunteer cleaning out moldy plaster and drywall in homes in the Gulf Coast region recovering from a hurricane. It is a gift to serve, not only because of what it achieves but because through service we share the love we have for others that is ours from God in Jesus Christ.

If learning leadership in college is important for success in work and life, then learning to be a servant is even more crucial. Christians in college are future leaders of the congregations they attend when they graduate and move to, no matter where they begin their careers. The opportunities they have at campus ministries give them unique experience for stepping into leadership roles in the congregations they join later in life. More important than their leadership, however, is their service to others in the name of God.

Christ, though we would surely classify Him as the quintessential leader of all time, did not see Himself as such. “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). That Gospel of Jesus’ death to pay for the sin of the world on the cross is the foundation upon which campus ministry stands.

A big part of what Christ on Campus does in its chapters is nurture this love for service in college students. In this way, they recognize the depth of our Lord’s service to all of us in giving us life and hope, and they are able to teach others that it is through service to our neighbors that we share that life and hope with others. Truly, that is a reward that surpasses any earthly glory a servant may desire!

Rev. Jonathan Bakker is pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, and can be reached at bakker@winntel.net.