“How may I serve you?” If we were playing trivia, you might be tasked with connecting this phrase with a particular restaurant. Do you know which one uses this question to focus on excellent customer service, along with “My pleasure”? Many organizations use taglines, mantras, and Catchphrases (See Lesson of the Slime Mold) to unite its members into sharing a common goal or to maintain focus on what matters most, just as Chick-fil-A does, but over the past few weeks, I’ve been reminded of another life-giving prompt that should narrow my focus, as a Christ follower, in all aspects of my day-to-day existence,– For Others.
Dr. Joe Hopkins, president of Campbellsville University, challenged graduates to consider the phrase For Others as they embark on a new Godly Adventure for their lives. Sharing a story of returning to in-person meetings following pandemic quarantines, Hopkins offered that wearing masks with the reminder For Others on them assisted the organization in recognizing the importance of being personally inconvenienced for the sake of protecting those with compromised immune systems. Allison Bush, a 2024 graduate, added to Dr. Hopkins challenge, “…do not simply do things For Others, do things because of others. So easily we can fall into the monotony of doing things For Others as an obligation instead of as a privilege. But when we do things because of others, because we see the people around as beautiful, inherently valuable, and crafted in God’s image…serving becomes the most fulfilling thing you can do.”
It’s this concept of For Others that I believe captures the spirit of Quentin Schultze’s philosophy of servant teaching. Schultze defines servant teaching as “serving our students by teaching them with faith, skill, and virtue. In the process, we serve God as well.” In his book Servant Teaching, Schultze encourages faculty to think beyond “just helping students build their careers,” but to also “value the personal formation of the student in light of the discipline being taught…We and our students grow together into the kind of community that nurtures current students and attracts prospective students.”
Schultze emphasizes that faith, skill, and virtue, the themes of servant teaching integrate into every aspect of the university experience. “We can teach chemistry and English as well as business and computer science. We can do it in the classroom and online, in our offices and at cafes. Servant teaching sees instructors and students as whole persons” made in God’s image, Imago Dei, to live meaningful and purposeful lives. “When we are servant teachers, more students come to love learning. They see themselves as God’s stewards of learning, called to learn in order to delight [For Others]. We break the cycle of students who have assumed year after year that education is merely about processing information and doing busywork on the way to eventual liberation from schooling.”
In embracing servant teaching and contemplating how classes can be beneficial For Others, educators have an opportunity to guide students on how to live “meaningful lives in which they can grow intellectually and affectively, navigate cultural differences, and become faithful leaders.” Being sometimes unsure of how to pursue these goals, servant teachers can “model and practice it by integrating faith, skill, and virtue in our teaching. Isn’t this what we desire in our teaching—life-giving practices rather than meaning-starved routines?”
In a culture that “frequently fails to inspire us to enjoy our calling and celebrate the Holy Spirit’s fruit along the way. Our hearts ache. We are busy not flourishing…Jesus says, ‘Come and Follow Me’ so that we might experience an abundant life (John 1:43; John 10:10). Do we feel such deep fulfillment? Or do we miss out on this blessing by separating our spiritual growth from our teaching practices?” Schultze agrees with Robert K. Greenleaf, who founded the servant leadership movement, that our culture needs more of us to nurture servants, those willing to approach their vocations with a mantra of For Others. “The better we serve, the more likely that our former students will reread their old course notes and recommend our schools to others.”
Servanthood is not our natural default, it takes intentional focus to provide Unreasonable Hospitality to our students, our families, our churches, and our communities. We must be willing to try and fail, and try and try again, until we reach a true place of humility, finding our God-Given Space in this world and helping others find theirs too. How have you witnessed people using their profession, their callings, in service For Others? Would you consider sharing an example in the comments below? I believe it can serve as an encouragement to all of us.
References:
Campbellsville University. (2024, December 6). Commencement ceremony. [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-lPgECmRKk
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