Everyone knows that alligators don’t have arms, right?
I love metaphors and “alligator arms” is one of my favorites! A quick web search of the phrase will reveal a host of definitions from stingy to a wide receiver in football who is afraid to extend his arms to catch a pass. There is even a song on YouTube about alligator arms!
The absence of a willingness to stretch and sacrifice seems to be the overarching theme of this unusually descriptive metaphor.
Spend some time listening to stories and watching the action around Indiana Wesleyan University and I believe you will see whatever the opposite of alligator arms might be…maybe octopus arms! In recent weeks I’ve heard story after story of extra mile service, from discovering a first-time campus guest lost and walking them to their destination, writing follow-up notes after visiting with a prospective student during a lunch, to connecting a graduating senior with their first post-university job, and the list goes on and on.
Service makes us better, draws us closer, and keep us truer as we seek to develop our students (and each other) in character, scholarship, and leadership. It has been suggested that a servant is someone who observes a need and assumes personal responsibility to meet that need, under the direction of the Holy Spirit.
So here are three quick thoughts (and a few test questions) about serving:
- Serving is always optional. What did you do this week that you didn’t have to do, didn’t get paid for, and no one could make you do?
- Serving costs you something in time, in money, and maybe in emotions. What did you spend this week on service?
- YOU can serve according to how God made YOU.
I love the story of an elderly man who got a burden for the kids in his neighborhood. He didn’t have a big developed plan or lots of money, but he decided to adopt a local high school and simply be present at all the events where visitors were welcome. He made sure that the students knew that he thought they were special and that they mattered to him. Somebody who watched him for a while asked him why he was wasting his time. I love his response: “You are right that I am not young, I’m not hip, and I don’t speak their language, but when I’m there, God’s got one more option than when I am not.”
Service is not about being great at something. It is an opportunity. It is a choice. It is about giving God one more option.
Curious Sojourner 