Serve or die

He Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. — Mark 10:45

Dr. Paul Brand told me of a memorable Frenchman named Pierre, who had served in Parliament until he became disillusioned with the slow pace of political change. During a harsh winter, many Parisian beggars froze to death. In desperation, Pierre became a friar to work among them and organize the beggars themselves.

They divided into teams to scour the city for bottles. Next, he led them to build a warehouse out of discarded bricks and start a business processing the bottles. Finally, he gave each beggar responsibility to help another poorer than himself. The project caught on. In a few years he founded the charitable organization Emmaus.

Eventually, there were few beggars to be found in Paris. So Pierre went to India. “If I don’t find people worse off than my beggars,” he said, “this movement could turn inward. They’ll become a powerful, rich organization, and the whole spiritual impact will be lost. They’ll have no one to serve.”

At a leprosy colony in India, Pierre met patients worse off than his former beggars. Returning to France, he mobilized the beggars to build a leprosy ward at a hospital in India.

It is you who have saved us,” he told the grateful patients. “We must serve or we die.” — Philip Yancey

Thinking It Through

In Mark 10:35-37, what did James and John seek?

What did Jesus say about the world’s authority? (v. 42).

How are followers of Christ to be different? (vv. 43-45).

READ: Mark 10:35-45

If you want a field of service, look around you.

The Bible in one year:

• Ezekiel 25-27

• Proverbs 14:1-11