Service Will Make You Relevant: Why Those Who Serve Become Difficult to Ignore

 

In the past week, three notable people in my church celebrated their birthdays.

Announcements were made on our church platforms and in the societies they belong to, and people celebrated them massively.

Now, I know some members of my church reading this may say, “But that is the culture of our small family parish. We celebrate everybody.”

And that may be true.

But not everyone receives this kind of recognition.

As I watched the celebrations, something occurred to me.

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒅.

𝐎𝐤𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐚 has contributed immensely to our media activities. 𝐇𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐨 is one of our music directors, and 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐈𝐯𝐢𝐞 has committed herself to forming our children through catechism.

It is almost impossible to attend St Augustine Catholic Church, Benthel Villa Estate, without recognising these people and several others who serve faithfully in different capacities.

And therein lies a lesson.

I have seen people desire recognition because they were the first to arrive, because they are older, richer, more educated, more connected or perhaps even finer. 😂

But there is another route to relevance: 𝙎𝙀𝙍𝙑𝙄𝘾𝙀.

Scripture teaches that whoever desires to become great must first become a servant.

And I see this principle everywhere.

There are employees organisations would hate to lose because of how much value they bring through service.

There are children parents naturally entrust with greater responsibilities because they have shown that they can deliver.

There are businesses that keep attracting customers because their service is superb.

Some people become almost indispensable simply because of how well they serve.

There is a woman in my church whom I call “𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐫”.

On your first encounter, you may not particularly like her because she can sound very assertive. 😂

But when I joined that parish, Senior was everywhere.

At a time when there was no standard choir, you would find her helping with the music.

Lay reading? She was there.

Women's organisation? She was there.

Parish activities? She was there.

Whenever something needed to be done, somehow, Senior was around.

Till today, it is almost impossible to organise anything meaningful in the church without getting her involved.

Why?

Because she has built relevance through years of service.

And perhaps that is something worth remembering as we begin another week.

𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. 𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙮 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙪𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚.

At work, serve.

In your business, serve.

In your family, serve.

In your church or community, serve.

Wherever you find yourself, become known as someone who adds value.

𝙎𝙀𝙍𝙑𝙄𝘾𝙀 𝙒𝙄𝙇𝙇 𝙈𝘼𝙆𝙀 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙍𝙀𝙇𝙀𝙑𝘼𝙉𝙏

Stay relevant by being one who serves.