The “Reciprocal Nature of Service” is Tricky Business

In the article “A Faithful Presence in the Community”, Phil de Haan gives a nice description of the underlying philosophy and history of Calvin’s Service-Learning Center. As someone who is quite comfortable in the office now, it was interesting to get a more rounded understanding of the office’s history and humble beginnings. 

One topic de Haan touched on in his article was the tricky “reciprocal nature of service.” Sometimes when organizations are centered around public service, the heart of the mission can get muddled. It is all too easy for service organizations to become a “service savior” of sorts, where the focus is helping others in order to get something, rather than to simply be of service. When sending volunteers out into the community, it is important to be conscious of why that person is there and what needs they are fulfilling. 

Are they truly serving the community by being there, or are they simply doing this to feel good and look good? 

This is something that the S-LC needs to constantly be aware of and re-evaluating. Serving others generally makes the majority of us feel good inside. I believe we were built to help one another, thus it is natural to feel some form of gratification after providing service to someone in need. But when we blow these individual feelings of gratification up to an organizational level, it can be tricky keeping the heart of the mission at the forefront. 

This has become all too apparent in the current pandemic where sending Calvin students out into the community to serve is no longer the safest or best way to be loving our neighbors. Typically sending students into places of need in the community is a straightforward task, but now in attempts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, site visits carry a new weight. The S-LC is trying to figure out how to work with our community partners in a way that is still useful while keeping everyone as safe as possible. It may feel odd not being in person, but this is the best way to serve our community right now. 

Link to article: https://calvin.edu/publication/spark/2013/12/01/a-faithful-presence-in-the-community