Utility Player Christians

David Gyertson, Ph.D.

The day had come-finally.

As the newly trained chef stood before the door of the manor house, he felt himself overcome with thanksgiving. Long had he hoped and prayed for the opportunity to join the household of the one who rescued him from a life of destruction and distraction. Now nothing was more important than using the culinary skills and talents he honed so sacrificially for the benefactor who had done so much for him. The door opened. Standing before him was the Lord of the manor and the opportunity to fulfill the dreams of a lifetime.

"Welcome home," the Master said. "We have your place ready." As the chef walked in, the Master continued, "I know you are well equipped for the tasks of leading my banquet staff. However, I have great needs in my fields. Will you serve me where I need you most—for as long as necessary—perhaps a lifetime?" As the chef contemplated these words, he found his initial disappointment disappearing quickly. "Yes" was his reply. In that moment, he realized that he had learned an even more significant lesson than any cooking technique during his time of training: Serving to meet the needs of the one he loved was more important than serving to meet his own.

Our Longing for Service

This story, which came to me at a crossroads early in my life of service for Jesus Christ, remains a secure anchor point as I seek to be a part of the next chapter of God's Kingdom work. Those whose lives are transformed by the saving and filling work of the Messiah want to use the best of their time, talents, and abilities to advance His purposes. I see a measurable increase in the number of Christians longing to go beyond popular perceptions of success to completeness. Personal fulfillment is among the most treasured core values for those seeking significance within and beyond the Church.

Our understanding of the way to significance, however, is highly influenced by the popular wisdom of our self-driven culture. According to this wisdom, we must use the majority of our talents and time in order to attain personal satisfaction. We are daily confronted with media-made and applauded celebrities who purport to have found this satisfaction by discovering and utilizing their giftedness. As a result, many Western-influenced Christians believe that if they just could find that place of service where their gifts are acknowledged and talents fully utilized, they too could be fulfilled and great in the Kingdom.

The Biblical Model of Leadership

This "be all that you can be by doing all that you can do" formula often stands in stark contrast to and conflict with the servant leadership models honored in Scripture.

• God took delight in using the foolish and the weak to confound the wise and the strong (1 Cor. 1:27).

• Moses found that his inadequacies were the means for accomplishing God's greatest purposes (Ex. 3 & 4).

• The Psalmist was content to be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord (Psalm 84:10).

• John the Baptist knew that he had to decrease so that Jesus might increase (Mark 1:7).

• Peter realized that only after his own resources of strength, freedom and determination were exhausted could he travel the highway to his life's ultimate destiny (John 21:18-19).

• Paul, whose resume begins with a chief of sinners' confession (1 Tim. 1:15), knew that his weakness was perfected in Jesus' strength—that earthen vessels hold life's greatest treasure so others will realize that the power and the glory are God's alone (2 Cor. 4:7). It was in that discovery that he found contentment in each state and circumstance that crossed his path (Phil. 4:11). That contentment empowered the Apostle to embrace life's final chapter with purpose and hope. Like a marathoner achieving a personal best, the Apostle keeps the faith and finishes the course (2 Tim. 4:6-8).

• Paul's words echo across the centuries that we, too, will receive the crown if we will run and complete the race not in our own strength, but in that of the One who declared, "It is finished" (John 19:30). The marathon Paul references is more like today's Special Olympics for those who are mentally and physically challenged than the single winner events we often associate with modern-day competitions. All who cross the finish line receive the winner's crown, the warm embrace and the Father's "Well done"!

Christians know, because of the witness of the Holy Spirit, that Jesus is the gold standard for doing the will of the Father. We are challenged by the Master's willingness to wash feet and endure the cross—all because He loved the Father who so loved the world. Servant leadership has its ultimate definition and illustration in the life of our Lord.

Facing the Pattern of Christ's Leadership

No portion of Scripture has provided me with deeper insights into the mind, heart, and will of Christ's servant leadership than Phil. 2:1-11. While reveling in this Pauline hymn, I believe the Holy Spirit has asked me a sobering question, "Whose needs are you meeting as you lead—your own or those of these I entrust to you?" In the capstone years of my calling, I return often to this query asking for the Comforter's help to evaluate my progress in serving like Jesus.

The opening stanzas of Philippians 2 confront the motivations of the heart, emphasizing the "why and who" of serving rather than the "what, when, where, and how". Those who desire to serve like Jesus must unite around a commitment to humility, self-denial, and other-centeredness. Actions and attitudes, for those who would be like Jesus, must be without selfish ambition and prideful arrogance.

Paul next turns to the ultimate case study, the core curriculum for the Master's degree in Servant Leadership. The foundation stones of service, as Jesus' life so powerfully illustrates, first must be established in the mind and heart. I applaud the exhortation popularized by the question WWJD (What would Jesus do?). However, as revealed in these next verses, we can only do as Jesus did as we see as Jesus saw and feel as Jesus felt. Servant leaders also wear bracelets that call us to WWJS (What would Jesus see?) and WWJF (What would Jesus feel?).

While much of serving and leading often is motivated and evaluated by what we get from the experience, our Lord was driven by the desire to be what we needed so that our greatest good might be apprehended. Laying aside His glory as Lord of all, He humbly moved from Creator to the created, taking on our state in order to identify with those He came to lead. He came to serve and save and not be served or saved (Matt. 20:28. Jesus embraced our deepest longings, endured the pain of sin and finally paid the price for liberation and regeneration. The Son gave up what He was, identified with what we were, so that we could become all the Father intended—heirs and joint heirs with Him for eternity (Rom. 8:17).

Our call to leadership is inextricably bound to the form of Christ's humble incarnation. Though it often grates against our desire to be great and profound, Christ's life presents us with a consistent call to humble service under the direction of our Master.

Moving from Strengths-Centered to Christ-Centered Service

Certainly it is true that tools that assess and describe personality types, skill sets, or spiritual gifts help us realize that we are God's unique and distinctive creation, created for a specific purpose. We need to be good stewards of the abilities entrusted to us, utilizing them appropriately as the Holy Spirit directs.

I become concerned, however, when these assessments become the exclusive methodology for determining where, how, and whom we should serve. We may be tempted to accept or reject opportunities to serve based on perceptions of fit. The fact that this opportunity "just isn't me" may be the way God ensures that His Son, rather than you, gets the glory. We need to remember that we are his, he calls us to who we are to be and how we are to serve.

Strength and gift assessments can inadvertently be used to set conditions on and criteria for service, creating expectations that personal needs should be met, agendas advanced, talents fully utilized, and dreams fulfilled. So easily we take these things as evidence that we are in the center of God's will. There is some truth in these ideas, but we need to hear the whole truth. God does purpose to give us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4), but he is also in the process of reengineering the shape of our desires.

As we consider these things, we need to be cautious about being driven by how satisfied and fulfilled we feel without seriously comparing our desires with the promises of Scripture. There, we find the enduring pattern of promised life taking the form of self-denial and death. To serve as Jesus served is to be confronted regularly with opportunities to deny the self, take up the cross and follow Him (Matt. 16:24). I find myself asking more frequently, "David, whose needs drive your decisions about serving and leading—the needs of those entrusted to you and the One you ultimately serve or your own?"

The Spiritual "Utility Player"

In my early spiritual life, I longed to be a star goalie rather than a baseball utility player. So much of my energy was spent on an emotional roller coaster looking for that one specific calling where I could rise to prominence and personal fulfillment for the new first love of my life the Master Jesus. However, I never found that star position—I was never given one true vocational destiny of service through which I might someday attain sainthood.

Instead, as I pondered the Chef's lesson of service for the Master's needs rather than his own (cited at the beginning of this article), I was awakened to a life-changing concept. Our Lord has as much need for utility players as He does stars. Biblical examples like Barnabas, John the Baptist, Aaron, Hur, Caleb, Esther, the two Marys and a great cloud of witnesses (including David's mighty men and the unnamed of Hebrews' Faith Hall of Fame) became my inspiration. They willingly served another's mission so that those, in turn, could fulfill God's call on their lives.

A Call to True Service

I believe an unprecedented spiritual harvest is coming in the 21st century. It will be brought in primarily by those who have a clear and compelling vision of service committed to "we for them and He and not just for me." Many will be asked to use their distinctive gifts to full capacity and beyond in the work they are given. Most will be required to pool their talents and availability with others because the work is too great to be entrusted to a select few. All will be asked at some point in that service to work outside their giftedness and beyond personal resources so Jesus gets all the glory.

Are you willing to be one of those serving whomever and wherever with whatever God entrusts to you? If so, let me suggest some steps that can make you available and willing for such a calling.

1. Explore and give thanks for the unique person God is making you. Take advantage of the many tools available to help you better understand your giftedness. However, do not be afraid to uncover your limitations—His strength is made perfect in your weakness.

2. Surrender the hurts and disappointments of not being fully utilized or recognized. The ancient wisdom that they also serve who only stand and wait has been a great help during my Selah seasons. Use these inactive times to celebrate God's work in you, examine your driving motivations and support His work in others.

3. Look for opportunities to serve where needs are greatest even if you do not possess the skills and talents normally required. Get outside of your cultural and performance comfort zones. Mother Teresa had one thing to give—compassion for those who needed it most.

4. Soak up the character of Jesus. Spend time in Philippians 2, the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:1-12) and the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:16-26). What we do has its greatest value when it plays a primary role in conforming us into the image of Christ.

True Obedience

If Jesus is the gold standard for how to fulfill our calling, then we will obey him by serving those he has entrusted to us according to his leading. Often we will work within the strengths He has provided. Like Moses, the skills and experiences symbolized by the shepherd's staff can become the "rod of God," rescuing the lost and delivering the bound. However, we must not be surprised or unprepared when the Master asks us to minister out of frailty and discomfort. Being forced to cast down our rods of ability and stability periodically ensures that we are operating not by our own power and might, but by the Spirit's (Zech 4:6).

And be prepared to "ride the pine" from time to time. The stops, as well as the steps of the righteous, are ordered of the Lord (Is. 40:31, Psalm 37:23-24). For it is primarily when we have nothing left but Jesus that He becomes everything. When Jesus is our only thing, as well as our everything, the excellence of the power is seen by all to be of Him and not of us. In the end, the only star will be Christ Jesus the Morning Star (Rev. 22:16). So, embrace the whitened fields utility players. The Master has something special cooking for you!

David Gyertson ,Ph.D., is Distinguished Professor of Leadership Formation and Renewal at Regent University in Virginia Beach. Formerly, he served as president of Taylor University (IN), Asbury College (KY), and Regent University (VA).