Service Precedes Proclamation

In a very real sense service must precede proclamation.

Here is what I mean. Sometimes, in order to gain an audience with someone or some persons, in order to gain street cred, in order for someone to giving a flyin' flip what you have to say about Jesus, your faith, or his power to change lives, you first must serve.

Serving someone or some people has the power to unfold arms, to smash stereotypes like here comes those whacked out religious zealots, and to gain a hearing. Whether an act of service is big or small it can help make a way in the desert for proclamation to be effective. And while Christ certainly does not need our preparatory handiwork in order for him to work, he calls us to serve. It is in our serving we move people closer to him because when we serve we are like him. Think of the many times Jesus served before saying anything.