A thoughtful reader wrote last week: What about those who are so accustomed to serving that their identities become tied to their acts of service, and they perhaps even begin to become proud of their ​“posture of servanthood”?

It’s a great question. He went on: 

One of the things that we need to learn to do better is to bring others alongside as we serve, so they can learn with us, and then experience the freedom of letting them run with it while we step back as needed for our own health and the good of the body… Just as a senior pastor may struggle to share the pulpit with pastors in training, behind-the-scenes servants can begin to think, ​“I have to do it all, because no one else is going to do the job right if I don’t!”

There is much wisdom here. Even service can become self-serving. The remedy is applicable to every spiritual practice — listen to the Holy Spirit. God wants more for us than just busy hands — he wants a servant’s heart. And as our reader pointed out, at times true service may mean stepping back so others can serve. 

Richard Foster addresses matters like these in Self-Righteous Service Versus True Service, as does James Catford in the podcast taken from his workshop at a recent pastoral leadership conference. 

In His Service,