Editorial August 29, 1977 Issue

Service Without Servitude

Naomi Price

Everyone is in some sense a servant. Queens and presidents serve their countries as surely as all the other citizens. From the most senior to the youngest, all are in the business of serving—somebody, some ideology, some ideas. Even Christ Jesus, who demonstrated more than anyone else dominion over good and evil, said, "I am among you as he that serveth."^{Luke 22:27;}

Jesus taught his followers that service to others is an essential Christian duty. At the Last Supper he illustrated this point by washing his disciples' feet. There was nothing demeaning in his act. On the contrary, through it he drew the lesson that only through true service is one able to attain the altitude of Christliness that confers dominion, enabling one to feed hungry multitudes, walk on water, and heal the sick.

But Jesus showed that true, Christian service consists primarily of serving God and His Christ, God's true idea. God is Love, so to serve God means to express divine Love's qualities and to acknowledge His universal benevolence. God is infinite Mind, eternal Life, so true service involves expressing infinite intelligence and eternal activity. God is Principle, so it is never demanded of anyone to serve an undertaking that would involve dishonesty or the promotion of false, materialistic beliefs. And true service never depletes the one who serves.

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