Strong Enough to Serve

THE DINNER TABLE

I was at dinner when the weekend came up. I mentioned, pretty casually, that I was hosting a baby shower at my house. The reaction was immediate. Laughter. A comment. Something along the lines of that's not really something a single guy should be doing, is it? I didn't say much in the moment. But I felt it. 

That little seed of doubt that gets planted when someone puts a label on you that doesn't fit, but you're not sure yet how to argue against it. Am I doing something wrong? Is this embarrassing? Should I have just said no? I got in my head. For a minute, I let someone else's idea of what I was supposed to look like sit in the driver's seat of my life. 

Maybe you know that feeling. It doesn't always sound the same. For some, it's that you're not manly enough. For others, it's you're too much, or too emotional, or too ambitious or not enough of whatever they think you're supposed to be. The words change. The sting is the same.

WHY I SAID YES

Here's what I didn't say at that dinner table, but what I knew to be true the second I came back to myself: One of the reasons I got that house was to open it up, bring people in, host and celebrate—to create a space where others felt loved, taken care of and seen.

That was never a small thing to me; it was the point. When my friend was having a baby and needed a place to gather her people, she asked me for help. Of course, I said yes—not to prove something, and not because I missed the raised eyebrows. I said yes because I have a servant's heart, and the Lord gave me this home. Those two things were meant to go together. That’s not a weakness; it’s the whole reason I have what I have. 

I wonder how many times you've talked yourself out of something good because of how it might appear to others? How often has a comment from people steered you from something God already put in your heart?

WHEN JESUS WOULD SHOW UP

I keep coming back to this thought: Do you think Jesus would skip the baby shower? This is the same Jesus who stopped a funeral procession to raise a widow's son and showed up to weddings. He sat at dinner tables with people no one else wanted to be seen with. He washed His disciples' feet -  the job of the lowest servant in the room - and did it without flinching. Nobody called that weak. They called it radical. They called it love. 

Jesus was not a macho man who only showed up for things that looked impressive. He was a servant who happened to be the most secure person in every room He ever walked into. That security is what made the service possible. He didn't need anyone's approval to do what was right. The model isn't performing strength for an audience. The model is humble, secure, other-centered service from someone so rooted in who He was that no one's opinion could move Him. That's available to all of us. Men and women alike.

THE LIE WE WERE EACH HANDED

Somewhere along the way, most of us got handed a script—a set of rules about what we're supposed to look like, act like, care about, based on our gender, background, culture or family. But here's the thing: Many of those scripts have nothing to do with the Word.

John 13:14-15 - "Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you."

For men, the script often says: Don't be too soft, don't care too much, don't show up for things that look "feminine." Strength means toughness. Service is a weakness. For women, the script often flips: Don't be too loud, too driven, too independent, too much. Be agreeable. Stay in your lane. Don't take up space. 

Both scripts are lies, and both have the same goal: Keeping you performing for a room instead of living for something real. 

I stood my ground that night. Not loudly. Not defensively. I just said what I knew to be true, the Lord gave me that place, and I'm supposed to have a servant's heart. End of story. The moment I went back to that foundation, the comment lost its power. Not because it stopped mattering what people thought. But because I remembered what mattered more.

BE FIRM IN WHO YOU ARE

Here's what I want to say to you, especially if you've been in a moment like that, where someone made a comment, or gave you a look or said something that made you question whether you were enough: You are enough. More importantly, you don't have to prove it to the room. You prove it by how you live, what you build and who you show up for. 

The most secure people I've ever been around  - men and women - weren't the loudest or the hardest or the most "whatever the world told them to be." They were the ones who knew who they were, knew whose they were and didn't need outside approval to stay standing in it. Identity isn't a performance. It's a posture. 

The posture the Word describes looks a lot more like someone washing feet than someone proving they don't have to. Justice. Mercy. Humility. That's the list. It doesn't have a gender. Baby showers definitely qualify.

The people handing you those scripts are often the most insecure at the table. Secure people never need you to shrink—remember that.

Micah 6:8 — "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

Photo Credit: GettyImages/BulatSilvia

REFLECTION QUESTIONS FOR THE WEEK

1. Is there something good you've stopped doing — or almost didn't do — because of how it might look to someone else?
2. Where did your definition of who you're "supposed to be" come from? The Word or the room?
3. What would it look like to be so secure in who God says you are that the opinions of others lose their grip?
4. Who in your life needs you to show up for something, and are you letting pride or image stop you?

Joe Navarro, known online as @joechristianguy, is a Christian content creator, entrepreneur, and cultural voice passionate about making faith approachable and impactful for the next generation. With over 4.5 million combined followers across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, Joe delivers bold, Gospel-centered truth through a mix of daily encouragement, short-form teachings, comedic skits, and authentic life experiences. His unique blend of theology, humor, and clarity has created space for millions of young believers and skeptics alike to engage with Scripture and real conversations about following Jesus in a digital world. In 2023, he co-created the popular card game Discernment alongside Jacob and Julia Petersen, which is now available in major retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Museum of the Bible, and Mardel. He also holds a degree in Agricultural Economics with a minor in Sales from Texas A&M.