安德魯．卡德（Andrew Card）曾是美國前總統小布希的白宮幕僚長。在一次採訪中，他談到自己在白宮扮演的角色：「每個工作人員的辦公室裡都掛著一幅裱框的使命宣言：『我們樂於為總統服務，聽候差遣。』但我們為總統服務，並不是為了取悅或贏得總統的歡心。相反地，我們的職責是告訴總統他所需要知道的資訊，好讓他能完成他的工作。」美國總統的工作就是治理美利堅合眾國。

很多時候，我們在生活中擔任的角色和人際關係中，也會落入取悅他人的模式，而不是照使徒保羅所教導的，在合一中互相造就、彼此建立。在以弗所書4章，他寫道：「[基督]所賜的有使徒，有先知，有傳福音的，有牧師和教師。為要成全聖徒，各盡其職，建立基督的身體，直等到我們眾人在真道上同歸於一」（11-13節）。在15到16節，保羅雖然沒有直接指出我們取悅他人的傾向，但強調運用這些恩賜時要「用愛心說誠實話」，好讓「身體漸漸增長，在愛中建立自己」。

作為基督徒，我們服事人是為了要建立他們，並完成上帝的旨意。我們這樣的服事，不一定會討別人的喜悅，但卻會討上帝的喜悅，因為祂透過我們動工，在祂的教會中建立合一。

Andrew Card was the Chief of Staff to American president George W. Bush. In an interview regarding his role in the White House he explained, “In each staff member’s office hangs a framed statement of purpose: ‘We serve at the pleasure of the President.’ But that does not mean that we serve to please the President or to win his or her pleasure. Rather, we serve to tell him what he needs to know to do his job.” That job is to govern the United States of America.

In so many of our roles and relationships, we slip into people-pleasing mode rather than building up each other in unity, as the apostle Paul often urged. In Ephesians 4, Paul wrote, “Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith” (vv. 11-13). In verses 15-16, Paul cut through our people-pleasing tendencies, stressing that these gifts should be expressed by “speaking the truth in love” so that “the whole body . . . grows and builds itself up in love.”

As believers in Jesus, we serve people to build them up and to accomplish God’s purposes. Whether or not we please others, we’ll please God as He works through us to create unity in His church.