Overcoming Obstacles to Serving Others and Menial Tasks
Serving others, particularly in tasks considered menial, is a recurring theme in Christian thought, though various traditions approach the motivations and implications differently. The New Testament emphasizes service, with Paul describing himself as a "servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles" [2]. This concept of service extends to practical acts of charity and humility.
One significant obstacle to serving others can be pride or a desire for status. Jesus directly addressed this, telling his disciples, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise authority over them... But ye shall not be so" (Luke 22:25-26), a passage John Calvin interprets as a curtailment of worldly honor for those in sacred office [3]. This suggests that a focus on worldly recognition can hinder a willingness to serve in humble capacities. Matthew Henry, commenting on Hebrews 12:1, identifies "inordinate affection and concern for the body, and the present life and world" as a "weight" that must be laid aside to run the Christian race [5]. This "inordinate care" can manifest as a reluctance to engage in tasks perceived as beneath one's dignity or as distractions from personal comfort.
The patristic tradition, as seen in Clement, emphasizes compassion and mercy, urging presbyters to visit the sick, and not neglect the widow, orphan, or poor, "providing for that which is becoming in the sight of God and man" [8]. This highlights a practical, hands-on approach to service that includes those often marginalized. Isaiah similarly calls for active engagement in justice: "Learn to do well. Seek justice. Relieve the oppressed. Judge the fatherless. Plead for the widow" [1]. These biblical injunctions underscore a divine expectation for believers to address the needs of others directly.
Thomas Aquinas discusses the abasement associated with certain acts, such as begging, noting that some deserve praise for begging out of humility [4]. This perspective suggests that embracing tasks that might be considered demeaning can be an act of virtue. However, Aquinas also distinguishes between actions that benefit oneself and those that benefit others, noting that while one person's actions can contribute to another's spiritual state through prayer or merit, the "flesh of one man is not tamed by another's fast" [6, 7]. This implies that personal engagement and humility in service are crucial for individual spiritual growth. Augustine, too, recognized the compelling nature of "generous charity" to serve others, even when it involves disclosing personal struggles or progress [9].
Sources
- Isaiah “Learn to do well. Seek justice. Relieve the oppressed. Judge the fatherless. Plead for the widow.” -- Isaiah 1:17”
- Romans “that I should be a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest the Good News of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. -- Romans 15:16”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 93: the same time, are not withdrawn from their own vocation. In regard to the former allegation, if it is a comely ornament of the sacred office, that those holding it be so elevated as to become formidable to the greatest monarchs, they have ground to expostulate with Christ, who in this respect has grievously curtailed their honour. For what, according to their view, can be more insulting than these words, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise authority over them”? “But ye shall not be so” ( Luke 22:25, 26 ). And yet he imposes no har”
- theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Second Part of the Second Part (Secunda Secundae), Of Those Things That Are Competent to Religious, Art. 5: Article: Whether it is lawful for religious to beg? I answer that, Two things may be considered in reference to mendicancy. The first is on the part of the act itself of begging, which has a certain abasement attaching to it; since of all men those would seem most abased who are not only poor, but are so needy that they have to receive their meat from others. In this way some deserve praise for begging out of humility, just as they abase themselves in other way”
- Hebrews (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Hebrews 12:1: Here observe what is the great duty which the apostle urges upon the Hebrews, and which he so much desires they would comply with, and that is, to lay aside every weight, and the sin that did so easily beset them, and run with patience the race set before them. The duty consists of two parts, the one preparatory, the other perfective. I. Preparatory: Lay aside every weight, and the sin, etc. 1. Every weight, that is, all inordinate affection and concern for the body, and the present life and world. Inordinate care for the present life, or fondness for it, is a de”
- theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Supplement (Supplementum), Of the Possibility of Satisfaction, Art. 2: Article: Whether one man can fulfill satisfactory punishment for another? I answer that, Satisfactory punishment has a twofold purpose, viz. to pay the debt, and to serve as a remedy for the avoidance of sin. Accordingly, as a remedy against future sin, the satisfaction of one does not profit another, for the flesh of one man is not tamed by another's fast; nor does one man acquire the habit of well-doing, through the actions of another, except accidentally, in so far as a man, by his good actions”
- theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Supplement (Supplementum), Of the Suffrages for the Dead, Art. 1: Article: Whether the suffrages of one person can profit others? I answer that, our actions can avail for two purposes. First, for acquiring a certain state; thus by a meritorious work a man obtains the state of bliss. Secondly, for something consequent upon a state; thus by some work a man merits an accidental reward, or a rebate of punishment. And for both these purposes our actions may avail in two ways: first, by way of merit; secondly, by way of prayer: the difference being that merit relies on jus”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 1: Clement, Polycarp, Ignatius, Barnabas, Papias, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus — CHAP. VI.--THE DUTIES OF PRESBYTERS AND OTHERS.: And let the presbyters be compassionate and merciful to all, bringing back those that wander, visiting all the sick, and not neglecting the widow, the orphan, or the poor, but always "providing for that which is becoming in the sight of God and man ; "(15) abstaining from all wrath, respect of persons, and unjust judgment; keeping far off from . all covetousness, not quickly crediting [an evil re port] against any one, not severe in judgment, as knowing that we a”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 3: Augustine — On the Holy Trinity — CHAP. 5.--OF DIFFICULTIES CONCERNING THE TRINITY: IN WHAT MANNER THREE ARE ONE GOD, AND HOW, WORKING INDIVISIBLY, THEY YET PERFORM SOME THINGS SEVERALLY. (part 2): are behind, and reach forth unto those things which are before, and press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling,"(2) I am requested to disclose so much of the road as I have already passed, and the point to which I have reached, whence the course yet remains to bring me to the end. And those make the request, whom a generous charity compels me to serve. Needs must too, and ”