The Ultimate Service; Church Basketball Referee!

TheDiscipleMD

A few years ago I asked another man in the ward if he would help me referee in church basketball leagues. He looked at his calendar for a few moments and said he was unavailable some of the dates, but that he could help me out on a number of occasions. I graciously thanked him. He ended up helping me referee for the entire season. As we stood on the basketball court the first week of games, I discussed with him the practical nature of paying for referees by the church. He is a high school teacher and I thought he might have an idea of the cost. We discussed it for a few moments, came up with a price, and then he said this, “You know, if you have offered to pay me $150 to come and referee these games tonight, I wouldn’t have done it. But since you asked me to do it for free, I agreed”. It struck me so funny that I laughed out loud, as did he. But as we separated and took our position on the court, I couldn’t help but ponder for a quick moment the meaning of what he had just said.  If I had offered to pay him, he wouldn’t have done it, but for free, he would. There couldn’t be any greater lesson on “service” than that. I mean, anyone who has ever refereed a church basketball game understands that the abuse you take is beyond belief. You can lose your faith in God when serving as a church basketball referee! So, my friend’s sacrifice bordered on potentially losing his faith over the service he was rendering.

When I analyzed his willingness to serve, I recognized that I too, wouldn’t be teaching an early morning religious class if they paid me. But because I was asked to give “service,” I was willing to do it for nothing! How unusual is that in this world of ours!

Churches and service-oriented organizations offer opportunities for all of us to give true ‘service’ without payment. I am impressed by those who give monetarily to charity, but I marvel more at those who give something more precious and valuable: their time! Let’s carve out some of our time and serve our fellowman. In so doing we will be paid handsomely by He who sees all!

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