I am unemployed and it sucks. I’ve been at the whole job search thing for a little while so I am optimistic an opportunity is just waiting to smack me right in the face at any moment now. But as I’ve been going through this time in my life where things don’t seem to be working out for me, where stress is always around the corner, where pressure and disappointment fizzle in and out, I have been beginning to have a change of heart. I have been having these very intriguing thoughts. Thoughts that are beginning to make sense to me, but don’t make sense in the culture and lifestyle we live in. But maybe that’s the point.
What would it look like to be a full-time servant? Is it possible to serve the community, people, friends and family as my occupation and expect no pay in return? How can I be a provider for my family if I am a full-time volunteer? My heart yearns to serve others. I love doing things for people. I love being able to work without receiving anything in return. I mean, as I still continue to search for a job, the more I realize I simply don’t want one. Not because I’m lazy and certainly not because I don’t need one. I most definitely need the money. But as I begin to delve into the pit of my soul and question myself, as I begin to reach into the core of my being and find out who I am and what I was made for, it is the more I am realizing I was created to serve. I was created to love. I was created to be a floater that has no agenda other than to be a butler for the world.
How crazy is that?
If we think about the life that Jesus lead it’s really not that crazy at all. This was His mission. This was His life statement. He trudged the dirt roads of old completely content serving the world around Him. His love had no bounds. His calendar was never too full. There is no doubt He is the greatest model of what a servant is but I often wonder how He received the essentials He needed on a daily basis. How did He eat? How did He get money? Did He save up from all the years of working with His father as a carpenter? I mean, if He is the one I am to strive to be like, wouldn’t it be nice to know how He was able to get those bare necessities needed in order to simply live?
So this now proposes even more questions.
How do I earn a living? How do I support my family? Do I walk around with a tip jar strapped to my back? Do I live by faith hoping that someone will leave a suitcase of money on my doorstep? Do I play the lottery? Do I send out letters asking for support? I don’t know. I don’t know how this works in America or anywhere else for that matter. I just can’t help but to be so enthralled at the idea of this. I could be a taxi one day driving around and giving people rides free of charge. I could do laundry for a friend or clean a house for someone who is unable to do it for themselves. I could be a regular at non-profits, or take the homeless to lunch and charge it to my credit card!
I guess all that it really boils down to is this: Am I willing to give my life, risk everything I own, and live solely by faith in order to be a servant to the world?
Is this feasible? Yes it is. It’s a tough road to take I’m sure. But I can’t help but think how awesome it would be to have only one employer for the rest of my life. To work for only one organization. To be able to walk up to people in need and say, “Hello. My name is Jason and I work for Jesus. What can I help with you today?”
That, to me, is an occupation that surpasses all others.