Beyond the Ballot: Real Public Service

You can make a difference without ever running for office, wearing a badge, or having an official title.

I’m an elected public servant. I’m relatively new at this venture, but it’s been a midlife privilege to have the flexibility to work my full-time job and serve my community. One year ago, when I was running for office, the newspaper interviewed me to ask about my positions on some issues.

Now, reflecting back over the last year, I have learned so much. I would answer differently now that I know more about the challenges my community faces. I’ve taken the approach of curiosity, seeking to understand and learn. Sometimes speaking too soon, and other times not speaking enough. But always wanting to be people-focused.

Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash

These are the things we learn when we serve anywhere. The public part of “public servant” means my choices and actions are on display for others to review. That kind of transparency means a lot to me as a private citizen who also values integrity and transparency in other elected officials.

Perhaps that’s why I feel it deeply whenever a public servant violates that trust. I hold truthfulness and being forthcoming in high esteem. From the lowest position to the highest, citizens deserve to have that honesty and integrity from those who represent them—whether it be those whom they have elected or those who are appointed. This is never about the interests of the public servant—or it shouldn’t be. This is about the people we serve.

The servant part of “public servant” matters to me in a deeply personal way as well. As someone who follows Jesus, I have a role model for what that means. The qualities of service spill over into all areas of life. Serving others with humility, grace, and love is not a sign of weakness. Domineering or demanding is not a sign of power.

Being a servant gives a perspective of community, really seeing people as they raise families, engage in local organizations and churches, run businesses, and own homes. Each with unique challenges but all fellow humans. I have learned not to seek to tear apart and upend systems but to look at long-term impact and seek solutions that offer support and out-of-the-box thinking.

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

My personal vision feels a bit unrealistic, pie in the sky, when I try to unpack my feelings about what’s going on in the world around me. It makes my community feel so Mayberry and the bigger world so dystopic.

Dystopia stirs emotions that I don’t know how to safely manage. I regularly check my emotions. Is it okay to feel on the verge of rage today? Who am I? Why am I feel angry, heartbroken, sad, and wounded all at once? Is anyone else heartbroken, stirred up, and at a loss for words today? Surely not just me, Lord.

When the problems feel overwhelming and the needs are innumerable, I come back to the center of the target. I can make a difference in my own community. Yes, I can hold the burdens of broader society in my thoughts too. But I start at home while I sort through the woes and injustices on a bigger scale.

Photo by Clark Tibbs on Unsplash

We can’t let the overwhelm paralyze us from using our voice on the broader stage, but using our influence in the smaller spaces unites people around a purpose. It isn’t either/or. Frankly, we don’t even need to align in politics or religion or status to care about making the world better for the people in our own communities.

We can just do it. I’m serving kids as a school board member—a nonpartisan role. But anyone can serve. Someone doesn’t need to be elected or appointed to truly be a public servant. It’s a matter of simply serving the public however we can.

If you don’t aspire to see your name on a ballot, or on a name plate as a board member or representative, you still have influence. Possibly even more influence! You can be a public servant who shows love, grace, empathy, care, and compassion. Who asks, “How can I help?”

Our communities need all of us.