This week I was fascinated by the number of people in the New Testament whose primary self-understanding was that they were servants of Jesus. All the writers of New Testament books called themselves servants, as did several other people like Tychicus, Epaphras, and Phoebe. "Servant" was a very common title for believers in the early church, maybe the most common title.
This seems odd to me. Who would really want to be a servant? In the first century servants were basically slaves. They did the bidding of the master. When the master said "jump," they said "how high?" A servant would dutifully clean the house, cook the meals, and care for the master's property. A servant was not free to do whatever he/she wanted. The servant was owned and controlled by the Master. Sounds pretty horrible to me.
Yet, first century Christians were honored to be considered servants of Jesus. They proudly wore that label, and saw it as a badge of distinction.
This week I'd like you to imagine that you have a new nametag that you will wear all week. The nametag will say "Honored Slave of Jesus."
How would this self-perception change the way you live and operate this week? How would it effect your prayer time and Bible reading? How would it effect the way you relate to your family, co-workers, and neighbors? How differently would you manage your time? What would change?
"As you wish" was Wesley's constant response to every request Buttercup made to him in the Princess Bride. What would change if that was your response to everything God asked of you this week?
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I think wearing a badge would change how I live out servanthood - it seems life is so demanding -I think servanthood is the thing that's easy to put aside and say I'll get to that later. There are too many things to answer to today, phones, e-mails, texts, facebook, bosses and kid's schedules and teachers, the list goes on. Back then if you were a servant, that's all you were, that's all you were allowed to be. It almost seems attractively simple. Today's humanistic, serve-me world brings with it a plethora of outside "things" to be a servant to. If we want Jesus to be the only one we serve we need to fight to protect the room for Him in our lives.
ReplyDeleteRecently, I've had lots of friends begging me to facebook - I made a conscious decision to say no (for this exact reason) I don't want another thing to answer to. There's so many days when my time with Jesus comes undone - interruptions, fights to referee, the "I have to get this" call comes through, someone needs to go potty etc., but when it comes down to it, it's just not good enough. I know part of it is parenthood and the stage of life I'm at, it is a 24/7 job with no breaks and no time off. (But then you all know that too and I digress) The truth is no excuse is good enough for I didn't get to it today, and I'm just talking alone time with God here - not even touching on the level of submission servanthood entails. Yes, raising children is how I serve Him right now, but most days I go away with my tail between my legs and feeling like a failure. I think my badge would be revoked, I'd get the punishment of failing servanthood - whatever cruel and unusual punishment that was. I think that's called sin.
I think that's why I'm glad my master is forgiving. I think that's why I'll try harder today.
That would change everything. I would be accountable all day and night everytime I came in contact with someone they would see what I am supposed to be. There would be no excuse for not going the extra mile for Jesus. At this point I feel bad that it would take a badge on my shirt to drive me to think through every action that I take. I know that it should be engraved into my heart and the first thought that I have should be "I am an Honored Slave of Jesus." I am encouraged by this thought topic and looking forward to growing in the area of servanthood!! I want to be a servant :)
ReplyDeleteIf I were a Slave of Jesus, my life would look radically different this week. That is because it is packed with so many other things.
ReplyDeleteI think about the act of "dropping the nets" to follow Jesus and what that would look like in my life. If I did such a thing, my life and the lives of my family would be radically changed.
Being a slave to Jesus would eliminate a lot of unnecessary to things to make room for his work. When I compare the value of many of the tasks we do on a daily basis with value of doing his work, it creates a clear picture that we are inundated with trivial things.
Prayer time and bible reading would be greatly affected because the rest of my day would fit around doing those things, instead of me trying to fit that in around all of the other things I do.
My relationship with people would likely change because I wouldn't "walk by" so many of them in need. Not just physical needs, but spiritual needs too. I am always cautious about providing spiritual support, especially in the workplace. Being a slave would have me fully engage without the concern of any penalties that may result.
Ahhh time. Yes, the thing we do not have enough of. Following Jesus as a slave would be like the others said, a radically simplified lifestyle that eliminates many of those trivial things we do on a daily basis.
I too would almost welcome a lifestyle like this. Many times I feel like a slave to the activities I am involved in because there are so many students and families who rely on me to do what I do.
But I feel this sense of obligation and it compels me to keep moving forward in spite of the fact it weighs me down so.
To live a life where I have these feelings about serviing Jesus can certainly be an inspirational goal, but I am really far from that place.
In the meantime, I really appreciate this exercise because it continues the process of self-reflection on the things I do daily and the merit of them in my life.
What would I change this week? Such great questions, because they really get me thinking “how can I be more like Christ”?
ReplyDeleteSo often I think my one big difficulty is lack of time. I’m always wanting more time to be able to help others more, or read the Bible more. Time is big for me, because I rarely have any. As I ponder these questions, I realize I don’t really need more time to be like Christ. Prayer is great, and I love to pray because I can do this just about anytime / anywhere. If I was wearing the “honored slave of Jesus” nametag (which we all do anyway) I would re-evaluate my attitude when I feel beaten down or I’m in a bad mood, so that the name of Christ really is honored. When I feel the urge to whine or complain about something, I’m going to work on holding my tongue, so that my kids might see more of Christ & less of me in me this week.
Just to add some comments from yesterday regarding time: Often I get frustrated & feel enslaved to my job and to my kids, but when I began to think about these questions, I began to think about the times I was able to share my faith either at work or with others in situations I’ve found myself in while running my kids around all week. These situations would not have happened if I had the extra time that I so badly want. This doesn’t mean I go around preaching, but when someone asks me a question like “Carol - how did you get through this situation?“ I can honestly tell them “it’s by God’s grace, a lot of praying, and my faith that keep me going”. I must be right where God wants me to be. If I can change my outlook to “I’m doing all of this for Christ”, it becomes more of a relief for me, and not so frustrating. I can then focus on my attitude & keep it in check. This is one thing I can change, and not feel so bad about never having time to do “other” things I want to do for Christ.
ReplyDelete