Teaching and training men and women to be servants of Christ is critical to the survival of the kingdom of God. For if Christ was void of servants then the message of the gospel would not be preached, and the labor of the Lord could not be done. This very lectureship is a result of individuals choosing to dedicate themselves in service to our Lord. Over the many years of this congregation’s existence, a multitude of great servants have come about, many of whom will be preaching to us this week. There are those who have served in the pulpit, but the majority have served in the shadows working behind the scenes in service to their Master. As wonderful as our past may be, we still have the ongoing duty to see that new servants are created.
As we could expect, in the pages of the Bible and the pages of our lives there is the recurring theme of being a servant. In biblical times, men and women usually had to give their service to a king or ruler in order to pay an acquired debt. Some choose to give their energies to their respective masters in order to gain some material possession, while others do so out of love and respect for the one they serve. These situations are not different than the ones that we face in society today. Every day, nearly every person on the planet wakes and prepares themselves to serve some other being. We labor for our employer so that we can have the means to pay our debts and to provide for our families. Those in the military serve their country, public officials serve the people, and families serve one another. Since being a servant is such an integral part of life, we need to understand just what the Bible teaches about carrying out such a duty.
In Romans 12:1, Paul, who frequently addressed himself as a servant of Christ, tells Christians “...present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Our bodies that were once dead to sin are now to be used in service to God. Paul in Romans 6:13ff and following states that we are to yield ourselves to God in order to be servants of righteousness instead of servants of sin. Jesus Himself taught in John 12:26 “If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor.” If we are going to serve Christ we have to follow Him. This means keeping all of His commandments and exuding his characteristics.
Indeed, to be a servant of Christ is a choice that everyone has the option of making, but we must understand that our personal attitude plays the most vital role in the production of a servant. If we are not willing to be a servant of God, if we do not desire it with all of our being, then we can never truly be His. A song that can frequently be heard at youth devotionals, the author unknown, is “Make Me A Servant.” The song is taken from 1 Corinthians 7:22, where Paul writes, “For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord’s freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ’s servant.” The lyrics of the song express an intense desire to become a servant like our Lord Jesus Christ. For our youth to sing this song at the beginning stages of their lives appropriately teaches them the correct mindset to serve the Lord all their days on earth.
Following or serving Christ is not just a one time act; it must be carried out every day. In order to properly serve Christ, we have to pattern our lives after our Master, following in His beautiful footsteps (1 Peter 2:21). If a servant disobeyed his master, or did not follow commandments or orders, then that servant could very well lose his life. This is a simple principle today: if we do not follow our employer’s orders we will lose our jobs. Choosing not to follow Christ, however, results in a far greater punishment, (2 Thess 1:7-10).
Even though eternal salvation is at stake, there are many people in the world who choose to spend more time in service to their jobs, families, and friends than to the One that has provided all of those things for them. What we all need to realize is what Christ said in Mark 8:34-35, “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.” In these very passages Christ gives the “how” and the “why” as to serving Him. If we are going to truly serve the Savior, we have to deny ourselves of all our self-seeking passions and desires, sacrificing our time, talents, and energies for his cause. Only in doing this can we find meaning to this existence, and happiness in this life. If we continue to follow and obey our heavenly Father, He will honor us with the greatest life one can hope to live, and most importantly, we will receive salvation. Let us always understand that it is a privilege and an honor to be a servant of Christ, and may we all continue to “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
