Bo Chancey

The desire for status is one of the greatest deterrents to living as God intends. There tends to be much clamoring for titles and positions, but little desire to serve. That attitude flies directly in the face of who Jesus is and what He has called us to do.

The greatest title any Christian could ever hope to receive is that of “Servant”, yet many within the church despise that thought. We often spend our lives seeking to be served and have others meet our needs and cater to our wishes. It is difficult then to “flip the switch” and accept a drastically different calling. We aren’t called by God to “look out for number one”. Instead we are called to put the needs of others ahead of our own.

I had a fantastic model of what it looks like to be a servant of Christ when I was in high school. I had a good friend named Mike Russ. Mike and I grew up in church together and during my senior year in high school I spent many afternoons at his house. We called Mike’s mom, “Momma Russ” because she was like a second mother to anyone that Mike brought into her home. For years I had seen Momma Russ serve at church and take on many behind the scenes roles, but I never gave it much thought until I was the direct recipient of her gracious spirit.

One day Mike asked me if I wanted a snack and being a teenage boy who was always hungry the answer was, “Yes!” I thought that we would go to the kitchen and rummage around for whatever we could find. Instead, to my dismay, Mike yelled out, “Mom…Bo wants a snack”. I was horrified. I said, “Dude…what are you doing?” Mike laughed and said, “You don’t know my mom”.

Within minutes she arrived in Mike’s bedroom with a tray of assorted snacks. Momma Russ was glowing. She loved to serve. Nothing made her happier. One day she went to Braum’s because she overheard me say that I wished I had a hot fudge Sundae. She even got them to put extra nuts on the side!

Momma Russ passed away a few years ago and as we all gathered for her funeral, I was amazed at how many people she impacted. She never had a prestigious title or a great position but tons of people came to mourn her passing.

When I spoke with Mike latter that day, I simply shared with Him that Jesus had to have embraced her and proudly proclaimed…”Well done good and faithful servant”. That is when I began to understand that there truly is no greater title than servant.