Our primary purpose in MMM is to teach and encourage men to “conform to the image of Christ” (Romans 8:29) or simply to possess the character and conduct of Christ. If we ask what was the “character and conduct” of Christ, we could sum it up in one word – Servant. In fact, He made it very clear that He did not come to be served but to be a Servant. Later Jesus taught His disciples that they were to regard themselves as slaves (Matthew 20:27). The word slave in Matthew 20:27 is a much stronger word than our English word, servant. It is the word Doulos, meaning slave. Paul, acclaimed by all, as the greatest Christian who ever lived after Christ, identifies himself in the first verse of the great Roman Epistle as “Paul, a Doulos belonging to Jesus Christ (Romans 1:1a). Paul did not only use Doulos to describe himself, but when he wrote to the Philippians he commanded them to have the “mind of Christ” (Philippians 2:5), whom he went on to describe in these words, “Though even though existing in the form of God, Jesus did not consider equality with God something to grasp, but made himself nothing and took upon him the form of a Doulos (slave)” (Philippians 2:6-7). In the Greco-Romans world, the status of slave was the lowest social standing, and the height of achievement was to “lord it over” other people (Matthew 20:25). But not so with Jesus. He plainly said, “Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister (diakonos), and whosoever will be First (Protos or Chief) among you, let him be your Doulos, Slave.
As pastor of a large congregation the Holy Spirit assembled around me gifted and sometimes adroit persons, to serve at my side, male and female, white and black, young, middle age and old. We were all paid decent salaries and were privileged to be on the staff of the largest church in our state. By the commandment of God (Hebrews 13:7,17), the people we served were to “obey and submit to us.” But lest someone on the staff, including myself, got the idea he had the right to manage or “lord it over the flock of God,” (1 Peter 5:2-5), I would remind the staff and myself, that first of all, each of us is not primarily pastor, associate pastor, minister of music or minister of youth, administrator, secretaries, etc. but slaves of Jesus Christ and His people.
The question is: Are you and I willing to be true slaves?
In the Old Testament there were two kinds of servants:
- the Hired Servants, who were paid wages and had certain rights, and
- there were Bond Servants, or slaves, who had no rights, who received no wages, and had no right to appeal.
Only the Gentiles were permitted to have such slaves – not the Hebrews. When we come to the New Testament, we find that the word used for servant is not “hired” servant but “bond” servant, Doulous, by which is meant that our position as God’s child is one in which we have no rights and no appeal, but we are the absolute property of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, to be treated as He wills. “Ye are not your own, for you are bought with a price (His precious blood). Therefore, glorify God in your body which is God’s” (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
The question remains: “What does service look like in real life situations?” Jesus, the Master Servant Himself answers this question in Luke 17:7-10, “And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’”
In this passage I see five marks of the bond servant:
- THE TRUE SERVANT MUST BE WILLING TO WORK LONG AND HARD- EXPECTING NOTHING IN RETURN. On top of a hard day in the field the servant in the parable had to prepare the master’s meal, wait on the table, before he had any food himself. He just went in and did it, expecting nothing in return. No murmuring comes from his lips. He knows he has no rights and makes no demands for any.
- THE TRUE SERVANT MUST BE WILLING TO SERVE AND NOT BE THANKED FOR IT. How often we serve others, but what self-pity we have in our hearts and how bitterly we complain that no one says one word of thanks. Not the true servant, who says, “I will gladly spend and be spent for you, though the more I love you, the less I am loved” (2 Cor. 12:15). Personally, in my first pastorate I just assumed that the pastor would be treated like a king, and especially at Christmas. However, on my first Christmas I was told that the church was taking a love offering so I could buy a much needed new suit. A good suit in those days cost about $65.00. The church gave me the huge sum of $29.00. But I learned a great lesson from this incident. The Lord spoke to me and said, “Never expect anything from others, just serve the Lord and people and He will take care of all your needs.” And so He has for 60 years.
- THE TRUE SERVANT MUST NOT CHARGE THE OTHERS WITH SELFISHNESS. As one reads the passage, he would get the idea that the master was rather selfish and inconsiderate. But there is no such charge from the bond servant. He knows he exists to serve the needs of his master even if he is selfish and uncaring. What a contrast this attitude is with many so-called servants or ministers of the gospel in our day.
- THE TRUE SERVANT DOES NOT BRAG OR CONGRATULATE HIMSELF FOR ALL HE HAS DONE, but confesses that he is only an “unprofitable” “The faithful servant should not expect any special reward, since he did only what he was told to do. The word translated “unprofitable” means “without need” – that is, “nobody owes us anything. … The statement means, “My master does not owe me anything extra.” The fact that Jesus will reward His servants is wholly a matter of God’s grace. We do not deserve anything because we have obeyed Him and served Him.
As His servants, we must beware lest we have the wrong attitude toward our duties. There are two extremes to avoid: merely doing our duty in a slavish way because we have to, or doing our duty because we hope to gain a reward. Christian industrialist R. G. LeTourneau used to say, “If you give because it pays, it won’t pay.” This principle also applies to service. Both extremes are seen in the attitudes of the elder brother (Luke 15:25-32) who was miserably obedient, always hoping that his father would let him have a party with his friends.
What then is the proper attitude for Christian service? “Doing the will of God from the heart” (Col. 3:17,23) If you love Me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15, NKJV). To the person who is born again, “His commandments are not grievous” (1 John 5:3). Serving Him is a delight, not just a duty, and we obey Him because we love Him. “I delight to do Thy will, O my God: yea, Thy law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8).1]
- THE TRUE SERVANT ADMITS THAT HE HAS NOT DONE, “one stitch more than it was his duty to do.” [2]
What I have been describing is simply The Way of the Cross. It is the way that Jesus, God’s lowly Bond Servant, trod for us, and if we would “conform to His image,” we will do the same. “If any person would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). “For whosoever will save his life will lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for My sake and the gospel, the same shall save it.” (Mark 8:35). Does this way seem hard and forbidding and a life of misery? Absolutely not. It is the only way up. “It was the way by which Jesus reached the Throne, and it is the only way by which we too reach the place of spiritual power, authority and fruitfulness. Those who tread this path are radiant, happy souls, overflowing with the life of their Lord. They have found that he that humbleth himself shall be exalted…”[3]
- THE QUESTION ARISES, WHOM DOES THE TRUE CHRISTIAN SERVANT SERVE? All service is ultimately to God, but in the government of God the servant serves God by serving the authorities God has placed over him. In every area of life, there is a God-ordained authority. In the home, authority is vested in the husband (Ephesians 5:23-25); in the church, God has vested in the pastor (Hebrews 13;17), etc. In any Christian ministries, including Para-church groups, God has vested His authority in the head or leader of that organization. When one serves under and obeys his authority, he is obeying not only his authority but God Himself. When he rebels and refuses to obey his authority, he is guilty of rebellion against God. For instance, when King Saul refused to obey the prophet Samuel, God’s authority over him, Samuel said to him, “To obey is better than sacrifice…for rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft and stubborness like the evil of idolatry” (1 Samuel 15:22c-23a). In the church I have observed nothing more honoring to the Lord than servants who serve under their authorities, and I have observed nothing more disruptive than rebellion against those authorities. Moreover, I have noted that staff members who obey are favored in their ministries and move on to higher places of service in the kingdom, while those who rebel and disobey fall on evil days all their lives and often leave the ministry entirely.
- FINAL WORD ON SERVICE: For those who may think that serving would be a “put down,” let him hear and believe the Word of Jesus in Matthew 20:26-28, “Whoever wants to become great among you, must be your servant, and whosoever wants to be first must be your slave (Doulos) – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
HOW DO WE ENTER INTO ABUNDANT LIFE? We cannot do so by merely resolving that we shall be humbler in the future. This brings us face to face with repentance. In 1988 it was my awesome and fearful privilege to share the pulpit at FBC, Albuquerque, New Mexico, with the great English Bible teacher and evangelist, Roy Hession, and hear him share how he lost his power with God and how he regained it. He said, “…I had been doing full-time evangelistic work in Great Britain for a number of years, but had come into a state of great spiritual need. I had somehow lost the power of the Holy Spirit which I once had known in the work of the Lord and yet I had to continue to conduct evangelistic campaigns without His power…I was rather like the son of the prophets in Elisha’s school who lost his ax head while chopping down a tree but…continued to chop with just the handle…Ignorant of what had really happened I redoubled my efforts and became increasingly tense and forceful, all of which was a poor substitute for the Spirit’s gentle penetrating power.”[4] At this desperate point, Brother Hession related that he was convicted of his great spiritual pride, he repented in brokenness before the Lord and he “began to crawl through the door of the broken ones” and emerged “into the light and glory of the highway of holiness and humility.”[5]
Someone reading this article might ask, “Would not living as a slave of Jesus Christ take away all my rights and joy?” Not at all – just the opposite. We must keep in mind that Jesus Himself has modeled servanthood for us in His obedience to His Father and in so doing He modeled the living of a supremely happy and wonderful life and invites us into the same by His example. Living under the Lordship of Christ is not bondage, but true freedom. Also serving God and others, not asking to be served. “He who loses his life (for Jesus and man) shall find it” (Mark 8:25).
Illus: My paternal great grandfather owned slaves. In 1863 Abraham Lincoln freed all slaves by proclaiming “The Emancipation Proclamation.” But my great grandfather’s slaves asked him to let them remain as slaves. Why? Because my great grandfather had shown them such love and needed direction and encouragement in their lives, that they could not conceive of leaving him and going it on their own. How much more wonderful it is to live under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. What a joy unspeakable to serve Him and others. Some American business men went to Calcutta and observed Mother Teresa pouring out her life for the hopeless and exclaimed, “We would not do what you do for one million dollars,” and Mother Teresa replied, “I wouldn’t either, but I gladly do so because of my love for Jesus and others for whom He died.”
Are you willing to be a true servant?
(I was inspired to research and prepare this message after sharing the platform with Dr. Roy Hession, FBC, Albuquerque, and reading his book “The Calvary Road.”)
[1] Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, p. 244.
[2] Roy Hession, Calvary Road, p. 95
[3] Ibid. p. 95.
[4] Ibid. p. 14.
[5] Ibid. p. 96