"we believe the best service anticipates needs"
June 30, 2005
i had lunch at milestone's with my mom today. i've always respected waiters and waitresses because of what they do—serving others. i was reminded of this, this afternoon when the waitress was walking towards my table and she saw that i had no water in my cup. before i could say anything, she immediately turned around, filled up the water jugs and came back to my table to fill up my glass. she saw a need and filled it, without me having to get her attention or asking. it was beautiful. later on, i caught her walking somewhere, passing tables in the process, when someone from one of the tables got her attention. immediately, she stopped, gave up whatever she was going to do and listened to the patron's needs. while i know that this isn't an uncommon sight in a restaurant, for some reason, it was more clear to me what the implications were and it got me thinking. i think the waiter and waitress profession can teach us a thing or two.
how often do we, the church, see needs either in the lives of our friends and family or the community, and fail to address them? how often are we willing to stop whatever we are doing to help someone in need? how often do we try and anticipate the needs of others? can you imagine the kind of impact our lives would have on the people around us, if we actively met their needs? and can you imagine the kind of impact we would have if we met their needs BEFORE they asked?
i think for most of us, life tends to be about what we want and need. it takes precedence over others, which is reflected in our thoughts and actions. imagine with me for a moment. say you were swamped with a deadline the next day and a person really needs to talk to you. it's late afternoon and you've barely begun. you had set aside all of your day to work on the project. you also know that talking with this person would take several hours. what would you do? would you drop everything for them and be there with them in that moment? or would you tell them that you're swamped, talk with them for a few minutes and try to meet with up with them at another time? what's your initial gut response? your response may depend on the relationship you have with the person. if the person was an acquaintance, most likely you would put them off. if it was a friend, you might be inclined to meet with them. if it was your best friend, you would definitely drop everything to meet with them.
waiters and waitresses don't have the luxury of deciding how they want to serve people and which people to serve—they must treat everyone the same. there's a lot of truth in that. that's how Jesus lived his life. He didn't pick who He wanted to serve or how He would serve them. He loved everyone all the same and that's what ticked people off. how could He love all the outcasts of society when He was the supposed Messiah? if He was the King, how could He ever associate with the drunks, the prostitutes, the tax collectors? that's what was so beautiful about Him and that's the God we follow.
this incident reminded back to my time in the caribbean last year with cti. in january 2004, i felt like i lived very selfishly, by putting myself before others—i didn't like that. so i asked God to help me to love people better, and man He did. overseas, i think one of my greatest "contributions" to the team was by serving them and trying to anticipate their needs. i remember when we were at cayman islands painting the YFC office. i'd make sure everyone was hydrated and as cool as possible. i remember always carrying stuff like hand sanitizer/advil/medicine/vitamins and offering to the team as much as i could. i remember on our last island, the water there was a little sketchy (at least for me), so i decided to boil water, fill up my team's water bottles and throw em in the fridge/freezer so they'd be cool for the next day. no one ever asked me to do these things. it was about thinking about my team's needs BEFORE they asked and trying to meet them.
what happens when we anticipate needs?
1. people feel loved/cared for (both in action and in thought). anticipating needs means that first, you are thinking about that person. and second, that you care enough about that person to do something. isn't that what every human being desires? to be loved?
2. our actions reflect/magnify Christ. our serving others demonstrate a characteristic of who Christ was. serving others in our society isn't normal because people are self-absorbed. so someone who anticipate needs is even more abnormal. whenever you do anything counter-culture, people will inevitably take notice. it might not be a visible response, but nonetheless, they'll be taken aback, even for a brief moment. and that places you in a better position to share Christ, because people may wonder why you do what you do, whether churched or not churched.
3. we live the life that we're supposed to live (at least in one aspect). our lives are not our own. they belong to God. God wants more than anything for His people to know Him, love Him and worship Him. God is about His people. the second great commandment was to love our neighbours as ourselves. i don't know about you, but i think we love ourselves way too much (but don't get me wrong here. i believe we do need to love ourselves because God created us the way we are). we always think about our own needs/desires/wants/dreams/goals/thoughts. it's only in anticipating and meeting needs that our lives shift to other people. when we're thinking about others, there's less time thinking about ourselves. for many of us, that's a really good place to be. and by doing this, we'll learn a great lesson in humility, because you cannot serve someone if you think you are above them.
let's decide to value what's important in life—people. let's learn to put others before ourselves in action and in thought, so that the world might see and know the wonder and beauty and love of our God. let's heed the example of our fellow waiters and waitresses who are always looking on how to anticipate needs and who are willing to drop everything when someone needs them. that's who Christ was—the servant King. if we proclaim to love Christ, this is the life we must live.
i'll end with a line from a british airways commercial that's been airing recently, "we believe the best service anticipates needs."
"do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others" - philippians 2:3-4 [NIV]
Posted by Leo Chan at June 30, 2005 6:15 PM
