During Memorial Day weekend this year, my wife and I were eating in a restaurant in the Texas Hill Country and received service that was decidedly below par during the first portion of our meal. When I confronted our second waiter for the evening and asked to speak with the manager, he informed me that he was actually the manager.  Then I spoke with him about the poor service we received whereupon he promptly apologized and brought us two free after dinner drinks to assuage us.

That situation made me ponder: ‘What IS service?’  What does it mean to serve someone and what are the different ways that service can be defined and considered.  In doing some readings on the definitions of service, I came to six different meanings.  They are:

1. Done in the employment of another

2.Done without regard to cost or in the public good such as military service,  or done by a commercial organization for the public benefit and without regard to direct profit

3.A proscribed form which is followed (religious service) Also called divine service. public religious worship according to prescribed form and order. or a ritual or form prescribed for public worship or for some particular occasion: the marriage service. Or the serving of God by obedience, piety, etc.: voluntary service. Or a musical setting of the sung portions of a liturgy. 

4.(Tea Service of 8) – something tangible which is recognized as a standard: a set of dishes, utensils, etc., for general table use or for particular use: a tea service; service for eight.  of, pertaining to, or used by servants,  delivery people, etc.or in servingfood: service stairs; the service pieces in a set of dishes.

5.To make fit for use – servicing an automobile to make fit for use; repair; restore to condition for service: to service an automobile. 

6.Taking care of an obligation – paying off a debt Finance . to pay off (a debt) over a period of time, as by meeting periodic interest payments.

One thing I have considered is how the idea of service runs contrary to the basic nature.  We all want to be served and made to feel as if we are the most important people in the room.  I considered some examples I could look to as it related to what service could look like.  As I thought about that, I searched for stories which could speak well to that.  One story, taken from the website indianchild.com reads as follows:

A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam. He called his parents from San Francisco.

"Mom and Dad, I'm coming home, but I've a favor to ask. I have a friend I'd like to bring home with me."

"Sure," they replied, "we'd love to meet him."

"There's something you should know the son continued, "he was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mind and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with us."

I also considered a passage of Scripture where Jesus is washing His disciples’ feet.  John 13:3-15  reads as follows:

3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, 4 got up from supper, and  laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself.  5 Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. 6 So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.” 8 Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” 9 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” 10 Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” 11 For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.”

12 So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.


So what do I think are some potential applications from the definitions and the readings regarding service?

•Don’t unduly profit from it
•We are all accountable to somebody
•Be aware that there are standards to follow in what we do
•We are all craftsmen
•Somebody out there is helping you be where and what you are today
•You are called to what you are doing in the moment you are doing it.


1. Don’t Unduly Profit From It – Consider what you are owed for what you provide.  Be careful not to value yourself more highly than you ought in the marketplace.  It is always better to under promise and over perform, than the other way around.  At the same time remember that what you do provide does have a value, and that value may be quite substantial, particularly if the receiver of that service stands to handsomely profit themselves.  If they didn’t know how to get the answer in the beginning, you have gotten them further down the path.  At the end of the day remember that while you are taking advantage of every opportunity you have to maximize your opportunities, that there are plenty of opportunities that exist for you to invest and give back to those who might not be as fortunate as you are.

2. We are all accountable to somebody – Even people who say that they are their own “boss” and that they don’t answer to anyone else are still accountable.  In their case, they are answerable to their customers to provide good services.  They are also accountable to their investors and directors for performance.  You can create a great product or provide a decent service, and you can be a sole proprietor in the economy, starting and stopping work whenever you wish, but in order for you to make money in the marketplace, you must provide a product or service that a customer wants.  In that sense, you are answerable and accountable to those who pay your bills by buying your offerings.

3. Be aware that there are standards to follow in what we do – People can look at an example of something and say, “This is how that needs to be done”, or “Good service looks like that.”, or they can say, “I want my experience with this particular situation to be this way.”  There is a real tendency today for people and organizations to be unconventional.  Sometimes that pays off.  Oftentimes, the desire to not follow established procedures though is more from an inward sense of rebellion at the tried and true without really offering a better and more substantive way of doing things.  Architects and engineers have a professional standard that each must follow.  When you get ready to hire one you may be able to consider ten different architects as basically being fungible in terms of the adherence to their professional standard.  They may differ on levels of service, price, or a perspective that they will bring to your project.  For their sake as a professional however, they must adhere to the standards of their professional code.  On occasion clients will desire that our engineering firm find a way to make a desired outcome materialize from our professional analysis.  We have to stand fast however and not alter the facts on the ground from our analysis to the whim of a client.  Too much is at stake in the public arena.  Accountants, likewise must endeavor to uphold the standards of their profession to maintain their status as Certified Public Accountants.  Those who engage in Enron type situations are not a credit to themselves or their profession. Ministers and church staff need to remember that they are charged with a special responsibility to uphold the teachings of the Bible and communicate them in a manner that reflects properly on its words and meaning.  They have to be careful not to lend their ears to what is popular in any era so as not to interpret the Bible through catering to the comforts of man. 

4. We are all craftsman – Whatever your function is, approach life with the plan to really excel at your special area.  Your approach should be as if you were fashioning a piece of art that needed to be absolutely flawless.  If your work is seen as “art” to your clients and customers, it will be valued. 

5. Somebody out there is helping you be where and what you are today – Many can claim some degree of self advancement in a pure secular sense, “I achieved my success through my hard work, intelligence, etc…”  Virtually everybody however has somewhere along the way had people recommend them for a position, or opportunity, or had someone operate on their behalf in such a way as to maximize their opportunity in a particular area.  About twelve years ago I had a mentor who I met with about every two to three weeks.  He and his wife were missionaries who were home in Dallas for furlough before going back out to the field.  He told me a number of things during the six months that we met together, but the one thing he told me that I have not forgotten is this:  “You cannot take someone where you have not been yourself”.  I have honestly taken that advice and have let it drive me in some of the decisions I have made as I have tried to influence others.

6. You are called to what you are doing in the moment you are doing it – Your service you undertake should be a role that you aspire to and that you have prepared for from the past.  You have trained for and prepared for this moment.  Have pride in your approach to accomplishing the task.  If you are an architect who has been commissioned to design a building for a large church in a well established neighborhood, approach your work with all diligence and seriousness, recognizing that this is an opportunity for you to have an imprint on a structure that potentially tens of thousands of people will walk through during the next 75 years.  What do you want your work to show about you, your values, your ethics?  While it’s true that few or none will remember who you are after a few years, the simple fact of knowing that everything you do is an investment for the betterment or detriment of society should drive you forward with a missionary zeal to put your heart and soul into your work.

Life is a sacred calling, whether we are alive twenty, fifty, or one hundred years.  Our life on the earth is a blip on the radar of time and eternity.  However, we will carry in eternity the history that we lived today.


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The Different Positions of
Service

Posted: July 1, 2012 by Chuck DeShazo

SERVICE
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