TRAINING
HOUSEHOLD SERVANTS

Topics: Christmas; Example; Humility; Jesus Christ; Self-denial; Service

References: John 13:13–17; Galatians 5:13–14; Philippians 2:5–11; 1 Timothy 6:1–2

We need more servants today. But a good servant is hard to find.

In the past decade, the number of American households worth $10 million or more has quadrupled, and the newly rich want help managing their large homes and busy lifestyles. Mary Starkey’s International Institute for Household Management of Denver, Colorado, is trying to meet the need. With household managers earning $60,000 to $120,000 a year, applications are at an all-time high, but servanthood is not easy to learn.

Those enrolled in the rigorous eight-week, $7,200 course devote themselves to mastering the mundane aspects of running a large household: dealing with trades and outside vendors, managing household staff, learning table manners, and taking cooking classes. They learn how to set a formal dinner table and iron table linens so they are crisp and wrinkle-free.

Perhaps the most difficult aspect of servanthood, however, is self-denial. A consulting beautician at the school recently told an attractive young female student to trim her long blond hair, lose the showy earrings, and lay off the red lip liner. It seemed her makeup was drawing attention away from her employers to herself.

That violated the primary goal of a servant: to meet the needs of others rather than self.

—Chris Easton, in a sermon “Real Life: Making It Personal,” Newark Church of the Nazarene, Newark, Ohio (October 15, 2006)