Today while searching for some lunch I decided to make a quick trip through the Taco Bell drive-thru. The past few times I’ve been there, I’ve noticed that everyone who works there ends every conversation with “We love serving you.” The person takes your order, confirms your order, and then it’s “Thank you. Please drive around. We love serving you.” Then you proceed to the payment window. You get your change and another “We love serving you.” Finally, after the chicken quesadilla, double-decker taco, cinnamon twists and large Pepsi come through the last window, the employee bids farewell with yet another “We love serving you.”

I’m not naive. At least not about this. I know that they had a big meeting of all the Taco Bell employees, and someone in management said, “We’re going to start saying this to every customer no matter what.” This is obvious, because it’s been fairly obvious on several occasions that the person saying it – well, to be blunt – didn’t mean it.

I am, however, intrigued by the concept of this. Those who consider themselves “god-fearing” people, especially Christians, know the necessity of servanthood. But do we ever consider the motive? Even non-believers know for the most part that serving others is a good thing to do. But again – what is the motive? Why serve?

Many times, I think we feel as though we should serve because, well, we just should. It seems like a simple task or duty. The motivation seems to be “the Bible tells me so.” But if we take a closer look, we can begin to uncover that there is much more to serving than we think.

Paul wrote to the Galatians these powerful words:

“You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.” -Galatians 5:13 (NIV)

Think about this in a modern context. We live in a free country in the United States. We have the freedom to do as we wish within legal boundaries. What we do with that freedom is up to us. Many choose to abuse that freedom. Many choose to exploit it. But Paul’s words called the church in Galatia to leverage their freedom for the sake of those who need a loving servant.

Just think about what this world would be like if the Church today truly served with love as their motivation. That’s the difference between who serves when asked and someone who asks to serve. If you’ve ever taken part in a service project, do you think you could honestly look the people whom you were serving in the eye and say, “I love serving you?” The challenge for us all is to live out those words and realize that servanthood shouldn’t be a chore or a menial task to fulfill some hypothetical checklist of Christianity. It should be something that is emblazoned upon the heart of the believer. Remember – even “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” – Matthew 20:28 (NIV)