When I take my wife out to dinner, I usually ask for the name of the server that earns the best tips. You see, I know that the one who makes the best tips is the one who serves the best. I want the best server, and I’m willing to tip well for it. I’m not just paying for the food. I’m paying for the atmosphere and the service that goes with it, and as a paying client, I want to be served with excellence.
Serving with excellence means that you serve with your whole heart, not halfheartedly. It does not take shortcuts, and it does require that you stay until the job is done right. Serving with excellence is not fun, but that is not its objective. It plans ahead to ensure that everything runs smoothly. Excellence is the first to arrive and the last to leave. It has no friends, and herein lies the secret. Because nobody wants serve with excellence, but those who do, leave a mark on the one being served.
Many years ago, when our children were between 10 and 12, we drove from Pennsylvania to Alabama to see Grandma and Grandpa. On our return, just after we said our goodbye’s, we stopped in at the drive-through of a Chic-Fil-A restaurant and ordered about $30 of food. After pulling up to the Window to pay, our debit card was declined. We had no cash, and a severe case of embarrassment. After profusely apologizing, they said, please pull around. Expecting to get reamed by the store manager, they handed us EVERYTHING we ordered, bag after bag, drink after drink. She then said, “Don’t worry about it, be blessed and have a great trip!” I emphatically responded, “Thank you, so much!” To which they replied, “My pleasure”.
We were absolutely blown away, and from that day on, we have been die-hard Chic-Fil-A patrons. It is doubtful that the manager of that Chic-Fil-A store in Oxford, Alabama, graduated from a Christian college or was credentialed with a minister’s license, but she sure had an impact on our lives.
Qualifications for Ministry
I love that one does not have to have a master’s degree, or even a formal education to greatly impact the lives of others. I’m not against formal education, I just love that it’s not required in order to participate in advancing the Kingdom of God. It does not matter if you can read and write, or are mentally handicapped for that matter. There is an equal playing field when it comes to excellence. Everyone from all walks of life can serve with excellence.
The Ministry of Serving With Excellence
Servants have such an incredible ministry opportunity. They have the power to make an enormous impact in the lives of those for whom they serve, by simply going above and beyond. In Colossians 3, Paul wrote, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (Colossians 3:23). He addresses the attitude of the servant. Give it your all. Serve with everything you have, and invest love into your work, because when you do, you pave the way for the Holy Spirit to speak to the heart of those being served. Again, When you serve with excellence, you gain the attention of the Holy Spirit who will then use what you have served in love, to speak to the heart of the one being served.
You have no idea how the Holy Spirit will minister to their heart, and that’s OK. That’s not your job. That’s his role. Your job is “work heartily, as for the Lord“, doing so with love and passion. Trust him to minister to them. In fact, I encourage you to entrust them to him, as you serve with excellence.