SERVANTHOOD

D. L. Moody once said, “The measure of a man is not how many servants he has, but how many men he serves.”1217

The Navigators are well known for their emphasis on having an attitude of servanthood. A businessman once asked Lorn Sanny, then president of the Navigators, how he could know when he had a servantlike attitude. The answer was, “By how you act when you are treated like one.”1218

A sign read, “There is no limit to the good that a man can do, if he doesn’t care who gets the credit.”

If you really don’t care who gets the credit, then you can just enjoy yourself and do all kinds of good deeds for others. Just be glad that it is done, and don’t worry about who gets the credit on earth, because your heavenly Father knows.1219

A student at a Bible school in the Philippines became disturbed over the condition of the men’s rest rooms, since they always seemed to be neglected in the cleaning routine. When nothing was done to eliminate the filth, he took matters into his own hands and complained to the principal of the school. A little while later, the student noticed that the problem was being corrected, but he saw with amazement that the man with the mop and pail in hand was the principal himself!

Later the student commented, “I thought that he would call a janitor, but he cleaned the toilets himself. It was a major lesson to me on being a servant and, of course, it raised a question in my own mind as to why I hadn’t taken care of the problem!”1220

You know Lord how I serve You,

with great emotional fervor,

in the limelight.

You know how eagerly I speak for You,

at a women’s club.

You know how I effervesce when I promote

a fellowship group.

You know my genuine enthusiasm

at a Bible study.

But how would I react, I wonder,

if You pointed to a basin of water,

and asked me to wash the calloused feet

of a bent and wrinkled old woman,

day after day,

month after month,

in a room where nobody saw,

and nobody knew?

Ruth Harms Calkin1221

A. E. Whitham has an imaginary preacher give the following report of a visit to the New Jerusalem:

“In my wandering, I came upon the museum in the city of our dreams. I went in, and an attendant conducted me round. There was some old armor there, much bruised with battle. Many things were conspicuous by their absence. I saw nothing of Alexander’s or of Napoleon’s. There was no pope’s ring, nor even the ink bottle that Luther is said to have thrown at the devil. I saw a widow’s mite and the feather of a little bird. I saw some swaddling clothes, a hammer and three nails and a few thorns. I saw a sponge that had once been dipped in vinegar and a small piece of silver. Whilst I was turning over a simple drinking cup which had a very honorable place, I whispered to the attendant: ‘Have you got a towel and basin among your collection?’ ‘No,’ he said, ‘not here. You see, they are in constant use.’ ”1222