Serving Time. . .

Just outside of Provine Chapel is a statue by sculpture and long time art professor Sam Gore. Jesus is down on his knees, washing the feet of one of the disciples, while a disturbed and unconvinced Peter looks on. I have thought a lot about that statue as a symbol for what Mississippi College says about itself and says about its students.

Truth be told, I would rather be almost anywhere than down on my knees in service. While I affirm the gospel message that the followers of Jesus should mimic his life of self-sacrificial service, I find myself using nearly every excuse not to give myself fully into that service.

In class last time, I tried to prompt some thoughts and discussions about service with questions about what constituted service, whether or not service could be required or should be required, how we choose the acts of service we do, and whether or not service could be beneficial. The response I got from you all told me a lot. We seemed to agree that certain acts constituted service--but few of us admitted to doing any service unless it was required. And required acts of service were met with resistance and even the suggestion that we wouldn't "do our best" in those situations.

So I have been wondering. . .why do we, why do I, resist serving when I claim to be following the example of Jesus? Why is "required service" such a bad thing, when I am willing to submit to requirements for most other areas of my life? What might "authentic service learning" look like?

That's the question we will be addressing in these next essays. . .