The Servant's Heart

The Apostle Paul was a servant par excellence. He could boast of his sufferings for Christ beyond measure and more than anybody else in the New Testament. Paul also said that he would boast of nothing but what Christ has accomplished through him. (Romans 15:18). You see, the most we could ever hope for no matter how much we suffer and no matter how much we do is that Christ says to us on that day well done thou good and faithful servant. Paul proved this by being down getting down and dirty just like Jesus did when he took up the tall and washed the disciples' feet.   He was not afraid that something was beneath him that is the servant's heart to be servant of all. Paul had no sense of superiority but he defended his right as an apostle appointed by Christ. the idea of a servant is that we have a master and we are obedient.  

When we call Jesus Lord that implies that he is our Master and that we will obey him.   In other words, to say no lord is a contradiction in terms. There could be no salvation apart from obedience. for instance, the Bible says to obey is better than sacrifice And God gives his holy spirit to those who obey him. obedience and faith are linked in scripture many times we adhere to the obedience of the faith.  God has given his Holy Spirit to those who obey him Acts 5:32

The Lord would not ask us about our achievements or accomplishments But he will be interested in what kind of persons we are. That is why Christ condemned those who posted before him on Judgment Day saying, "Lord have we not done this or that?" They were having faith in their works, not in the Lord. We should realize that we are only honored and privileged to serve God. Paul says it has been appointed unto you not only to believe in Christ but to suffer for his sake. (Phil. 1:29).   We also fill up the suffering of Christ. We are called to serve and when we do in Christ's name we should consider it an honor.

Would you worship a God who had no understanding of suffering? But Jesus Christ suffered more than anyone and God allowed his own son to suffer much more will he allow us to suffer for his glory. Then Christianity we find meaning and suffering unlike any other religion But of course, the true answer is not in philosophy but in the person of Jesus Christ. Now we are not to get a martyr's complex and think that the more we suffer the whole year we are or the more worthy we are. The faith doesn't us to become martyrs necessarily but to live for Christ and to present our bodies as living sacrifices. Many people will die for a Christ that they will not live for. Paul said that he would rejoice in his sufferings (Romans 5:3). 

As far as boasting goes, Paul said that he would boast in the Lord but he didn't do it to exalt himself but to put himself in Christ's shoes and think that doing something that Christ expects him to do. When we suffer and when we serve God, we are only doing what is our duty and we are even unworthy of that. Paul said that those who will be exalted must humble themselves.   And we do this by putting Christ first in our lives and making him our number one priority and letting all other things slide. 

One thing Paul did boast of saying that he was better at not just also at doing was that he was a servant of God. Yes, Paul did have a servant's heart, mentality, and mindset.  Paul did his boasting to be a fool for Christ. We all are fools and in a sense, but who's fool are you? Are you willing to be God's full and to do things that require faith not just the world's wisdom? Suffering can thus be a badge of honor but we must not use it to make ourselves better than others or to think of ourselves better than others or to think we are whole there than not type of attitude. All the suffering that we do is for the sake of the gospel and for the sake of the Name and we should be considered honored and privileged to be able to do it and that God is just using us for His glory!  Soli Deo Gloria!

The Heart Of A Servant

Jesus is our Exemplar and we should learn to emulate His lifestyle and follow in His steps.  "Jesus came not to be served, but to serve and give His life a ransom for all" (cf. Mark 10:45).  We are no better than Him and are obliged to do no less.  He raised the bar on ethics by His example and incentive.  When asked who would be the greatest, He said the one who is the servant of all and humbles himself like a child (cf. Matt. 18:3).  To be child-like in faith, not childish, that is.

Therefore, we are all called into the ministry in a sense because He used the word diakonos, deacon or servant in Koine. We have the ministry of reconciliation as Paul put it. This is a dog-eat-dog world where only the strong seem to survive but we are called to minister to the down and out and reach out to the untouchables, riff-raff, and so-called scum for the Lord's sake. The trouble with this world according to Lily Tomlin is that even if you win the rat-race, you're still a rat!

But we don't want a world of the survival of the fittest or the law of the jungle with no mercy or relief organizations to aid those in need  If only the strong survive, how did they arrive? We must recognize that Christianity is counter-cultural and we stand opposed to the world's way of reckoning, even success has a new meaning.  In God's economy, we're all weak and we are to bear one another's burdens and to comfort those in need.   No one is a rock in need of no one; we're all products of God, our DNA, our nurture, and nature which is sinful.

When George Whitefield saw a condemned man go to the gallows, he said, "There but for the grace of God, go I."   Paul reiterated this by saying, "I am what I am by the grace of God (cf. 1 Cor. 15:10).  We are to have the same humility and not see ourselves as an elite in this world but as the recipients of grace that we don't deserve.  God shed His grace on us!  When we've been touched by grace and it's changed our lives, we want to pass it on and spread the word because this is what makes our faith and God unique from all other religions.

Our success is not how many servants we have, but how many we serve!  We serve by virtue of having a spiritual gift and venturing out of our comfort zone to serve (and this is how we discover it) We need to make an impact and not just an impression.  (Our righteousness is God's gift to us! per Isaiah 45:24; Hosea 14:8; Rom. 15:18)  That is, it's not so easy to make a difference for Christ.  And the only happy people are those who've learned to serve, according to Albert Schweitzer, and this is the right mindset for us as well.  As Bob Dylan said, "You've gotta serve somebody."

The servant is in a win-win situation with God because the reward is not only in the doing itself, having its own reward, but in the receiving of a great and precious reward that won't fade away.  We're in a no-lose situation!  The emphasis is on our deeds, not our confession, because there are many nominal Christians or ones who are believers in name only paying lip service, and we are to live out our faith by giving it away and showing it to the world via our deeds, letting our light shine.

We must recognize Jesus being humble enough to become one of us, getting down and dirty with us, to identify with our issues and problems, even experiencing the O.J.T. of real life, Reality 101. Jesus feels our pain and relates to us, having been "tempted in all ways like us, yet without sin" (cf. Heb. 4:15).  Jesus has been there and done that, thank God!   So John the Baptist summed it up very well: "He must increase, but I must decrease" (cf. John 1:29).  We see this interpreted as being that the way up is down in God's economy!   Soli Deo Gloria!

Accepting The Riffraff

Some of us are really the utter scum of society, the rejects you might say, and in some religions like Hinduism, we might be labeled "untouchables."  Mother Teresa of Calcutta was so brave in her charitable work with the untouchables that she became a "saint."  The Bible says in Isaiah 51:1 to look to the rock from which you were hewn, the quarry from which you were dug.  This is so we don't get arrogant or look down on our brother:  Deut. 23:7 says, "Do not abhor an Edomite [the despised hybrids, who were descendants of Esau], for he is thy brother." No one for whom Christ died is worthless.  Remember your roots--don't ever forget where you came from!  In other words, don't ever forget what you were saved from!

Jesus was the supreme exemplar in talking to the woman of Samaria at the well, and laying aside all prejudice. Many of us have a stigma to bear that makes us unacceptable to "polite society."  For instance,  mental disability carries this sort of bad connotation that people don't want to accept as "normal (who says what's normal?)." Xenophobia is the fear of strangers:  Jesus certainly didn't have it.  Don't be intimidated by man:   Proverbs 29:25 says, "The fear of man will prove to be a snare."

Are you afraid to associate with the riffraff or scum of society?  Do you think it will rub off on you and you will be affected?  Jesus wasn't afraid to associate with anyone it would seem:  "This man receives [by no means did He participate or condone their sin] sinners, and eats with them" (Luke 15:2).  The so-called friend of tax collectors and sinners.  They say we are known by the company we keep and the Bible does say in 1 Corinthians 15:33 that "bad company corrupts good character."  And Proverbs 12:26 says a wise person "should choose his friends carefully."

How can we reach out to the unsaved if we are afraid of them?   We don't have to befriend them (Christ was the friend of sinners and that is what we were; those whom He called "friends" were those who obeyed Him], but they are not cursed either and we cannot be tainted by them.  Jesus wasn't afraid to get down and dirty with anyone and to associate with the sinners so much that they said, "Doesn't he know this woman is a known sinner [what manner of woman she is]?"  What goes out of a man defiles him, not what goes in--Jesus internalized sin, whereas the Pharisees had externalized and thought cleanliness was just a matter of keeping unspoiled and unpolluted from the sinners-they felt unclean by merely entering a Gentile's abode!  (They had not learned that the essence of religion is thought control, and they thought all that was necessary was a certain behavior.)

How are we to reach out to the world if we are afraid of them?  No Christian brother or sister is beneath us and not good enough for us to fellowship with--for all the body parts are important and no one can say he doesn't need the other seemingly less vital organs.  It is true that God has placed some in unique positions to witness to that certain element and they have a circle of influence that we don't. When you realize that you really are also riffraff, it isn't hard to accept others.  The Scripture says that as Christ has accepted you, so you accept others--I don't mean accept their sin, but love the sinner and hate the sin.  Jesus never condoned wrongdoing and we are to stand up for Jesus and what is right.

Remember, not many mighty, noble, or influential are called, but God calls the weak to do His will and bidding.  Proverbs has a word to the wise:  "Do not envy the wicked [not just sinners, but evil men], nor desire their company" (Prov. 24:1).  That is, we must keep in mind that we are Christ's ambassador's and that only "iron sharpens iron" (Prov. 27:17)--we are the light and salt and should be influencing them, not vice versa.  God never calls us to be aloof and indifferent to our neighbor. There is no place for a "holier than thou" attitude described in Isaiah 65:5--cut some slack!

We are not to get a poor self-image and inferiority complex and think that we are worse than others, but to have a realistic viewpoint and face reality.  Don't get on your case and give yourself a hard time!   Remember, others are probably easier on you than you are!  Soli Deo Gloria!