(Romans 12:18-21)
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We seem to possess a very superficial and even flippant regard for the word love in our society:
"I love pizza."
"Don't you just love it when she says things like that?"
"They have been dating for six months now. It must be love!"
Perhaps because of this, you will occasionally hear people distinguish these sorts of "love" from unconditional love, which means that I care about the happiness of another person irrespective of their behaviors and without any thought for what might be in it for me. Of course, the classic example of this is God's love for humankind.
I bring this up because so many of us strive to serve others -- to function as servant leaders. But to possess a true heart of service seems to require that I care about the happiness of another person without any thought for what might be in it for me. In other words, to possess a true heart of service entails that I harbor unconditional love for all those around me. And that can be a hard row to hoe for many reasons. Chief among them is that some people present themselves in ways that make them very hard to love! And, as any leader likely has experienced, some of these folks you serve may even seem to view you -- for whatever reason -- as their sworn enemy and are seemingly on a mission to damage and destroy you in any fashion that they can.
Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity well knew the challenges of daily bearing a heart of unconditional love to the world with all its warts, rough edges, and hostility. The words below -- sometimes referred to as "Do It Anyway" -- are generally attributed to Mother Teresa. As was true for her and for us, they beautifully articulate the challenges of daily serving all those who we encounter, unconditionally, in ways consistent with how Romans 12 calls us to lead our lives.
"People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you.
Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.
Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today will often be forgotten.
Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.
Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway."
In closing and in a similar vein, iconic musician Stevie Wonder -- physically blind but possessing a vision for how to justly live that far exceeds most of us -- often bids farewell to his audiences through a convicting message: "Use your heart to love somebody. And if it is big enough, use your heart to love everybody!" This is big work indeed -- especially if we are to love everyone, unconditionally!! But this is our calling. This is our charge. This is how we are to serve. Romans 12 makes this abundantly clear.
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Dear Lord,
Thank You for the opportunity to serve my Brothers and Sisters in all their forms around me. Please help me to acknowledge that, in the role of servant leader, You have provided me a positional hammer that I can use either as a tool to build people up or or as a weapon to tear them down. How I use that tool is up to me, but Your blueprint for me is clear. May You always tend to my heart, enlarging its capacity to daily live the unconditional love that You model so amazingly for me and for all of Your creation.
In Christ's name, I pray.
Amen.
