Christian Servanthood
I. Being a servant is necessary for the believer and for Christian leadership.
Matthew 20:20-28
20 Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus with her sons. She knelt respectfully to ask a favor. 21 "What is your request?" he asked.She replied, "In your Kingdom, will you let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you, one at your right and the other at your left?" 22 But Jesus told them, "You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of sorrow I am about to drink?""Oh yes," they replied, "we are able!" 23 "You will indeed drink from it," he told them. "But I have no right to say who will sit on the thrones next to mine. My Father has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen." 24 When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. 25 But Jesus called them together and said, "You know that in this world kings are tyrants, and officials lord it over the people beneath them. 26 But among you it should be quite different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must become your slave. 28 For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many."
In this question to Jesus, James and John were interested in glory, position, and rank. They wanted to be associated with Jesus, so that they could share in his glory. And it was at this time that Jesus chose to reveal something very important to them. That following Him, and even being a leader of his church, would not be like what they were thinking at all. It wouldn’t be this splendid rise to power that they were expecting. Keep in mind that the disciples didn’t understand the Kingdom of God, and they thought that at any moment Jesus would somehow overthrow the Roman government and set up God’s Kingdom. And at this point they had very selfish intentions. Imagine that there is someone at work who you are sure is going to be promoted soon. You may start to buddy up to that person, because you want to hitch a ride with them to the “top.” This is something like what the disciples had in mind. They were going to come into power with Jesus. And James and John were saying, “Hey Jesus, we’ve put in our time working hard for you, now we want to be sure of what our reward will be.
And Jesus used this opportunity to give them a glimpse at what it was really like. He revealed to them that it was not all going to be glorious and that they would have to suffer for him. Like Romans 8:17 says, “But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.” And they even agreed that they would go along with this. He asked them directly if they would be able to share in his suffering and they answered “yes.”
But Jesus still had another lesson to teach them. He had to teach them that if they wanted to be leaders in his Kingdom, they had to be servants. He explained that worldly leaders are tyrants. That is, they use the people under them for their own gain. Their mindset is “What can my subjects do for me.” But for the leaders of Jesus’ Kingdom it would be completely different. The leaders wouldn’t be the masters over their subjects. They would instead be servants of those under them. They must give themselves for those under them. Their mindset must be “What can I do for others.”
And there was no other way. Servanthood was not optional for them. Servanthood is the only way to lead in God’s Kingdom.
II. Now, often, when we think about servanthood, we think about doing things.
What are some things you think about when you think of a servant? a butler, a cheaffeur, a maid. In our minds a servant is someone who does all of the necessary but unpleasant things in life.
I remember that earlier this year we wanted to have a practical experience with servanthood, so we had a party for the teenager group. We waited on them hand and foot all night. That night was a lot of fun, for both the teenagers and us. But were we really learning Biblical servanthood in that activity? I, remember very clearly that I followed all of the instructions of the teenagers. But I found any way I could to give them exactly the opposite of what they really wanted, while giving them exactly what they asked for. Someone demanded exactly 2 ice cubes and I put in one tiny ice cube and then one cube that overflowed their cup. Of course, we were just having fun then, but that wasn’t Biblical servanthood.
Now, we know that in John 13:3-17, Jesus washed his disciples feet. In Israel in 30 A.D. they didn’t have paved streets like we do here in Boston. They had dusty, dirty roads. And they didn’t use cars, they used donkeys and there were lots of animals around. That means there must have been a lot of animal droppings around. Add to those factors that they wore sandals, not shoes, and you can picture what their feet were like. It’s no wonder they had to wash their feet every time they came into the house. Because it was such a dirty, disgusting job, that task was always saved for a servant. It was just about the lowest job you could possibly have. So, when Jesus washed the disciples feet, he was demonstrating for them that he was their servant. He was humbling himself to his own students to do a job that was reserved for the lowest members of society.
When we consider that we need to be servants, we may conclude that that means we have to go around and wash everyone’s feet for them. In fact, I know of one denomination, who have three ceremonies in their church: water baptism; holy communion; and foot washing. While, I’m not saying that it’s not a good idea for them, I don’t want to judge them, I have to say that is not servanthood. It’s pretty easy to figure out that Jesus wasn’t trying to teach the disciples that they must wash everyone’s feet.
If we look at Peter’s reaction to Jesus washing his feet, we can see that obviously this was not a regular thing for Jesus. In fact, it becomes apparent that this was the very first time Jesus had ever done this, and it was at the end of his ministry. Jesus was using this as an illustration of the fact that he was a servant of a completely different variety. Not that he was a servant to cater to every whim of his disciples.
Some people think that servanthood, and servant-leadership means doing everything for everyone. It means that they have to do all of the menial tasks that nobody else wants to do. They have to become the lowest of the low. For example, I had a foolish freshman friend when I was at Bible College. Somehow, I’ve managed to forget his name, but I remember him very well. We were cleaning the bathrooms of the chapel one night to prepare for a big banquet and he was telling me all about what he was going to do in the future. He told me that he was going to start a youth center. He then went on to talk about what good experience it was for him to be scrubbing toilets that night, because when he had a youth center, he would have to scrub the toilets. I, in my great freshman wisdom, suggested to him that someone else could clean the toilets for him. But he had the great “servantly” idea that he couldn’t let his volunteers scrub the bathrooms. He had to let them do all of the more glorious things, while he did all of the manual, behind-the-scenes work. While I am happy about my friend’s attitude, I think that it is completely foolish. If that’s what he plans to do, what is he going to Bible College for? I think he already knew how to clean bathrooms. Let me give you an example of something similar that came up in Scripture.
Acts 6:1-4
1 But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. Those who spoke Greek complained against those who spoke Hebrew, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers." We apostles should spend our time preaching and teaching the word of God, not administering a food program," they said. 3 "Now look around among yourselves, brothers, and select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. We will put them in charge of this business. 4 Then we can spend our time in prayer and preaching and teaching the word."
Remember, that these twelve are the same ones that Jesus told they must be servants if they want to be leaders in God’s Kingdom. Now, in Acts 2, we have a very good description of the church.
Acts 2:44 And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their possessions and shared the proceeds with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity – 47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved.
But by Acts 6, the church had grown so much that it was too much to handle. And some people were not being taken care of properly. So, the people expected their leaders, the Twelve, to work out their problem. Now, one might expect that since these men now know that they have to be servants, they will volunteer to administer this program themselves. What better way to make sure the bread is handed out fairly than for them to hand it out themselves. And what a perfect opportunity for them to be servants.
If you think that way, you will be very surprised by their answer. They basically said that they shouldn’t waste their time waiting on tables. If that was the whole sentence they would seem kind of arrogant. It would be the exact opposite of servanthood. However, when we see their reason, “We should spend our time teaching and preaching the Word of God.” It wasn’t that they were afraid to serve. It was that they knew exactly what kind of service they needed to do.
Let’s say you had a friend who was a lawyer. Now, imagine with me that one of those near-accidents we hear about every week turned out to be a real bad accident. You really damaged someone’s house because you plowed right into it. Now they’re suing you for everything you have. (Some of us wouldn’t have to worry about that too much). Now, imagine if your friend the lawyer volunteered to represent you. Now, imagine he’s in your house working on your case and some guys come over to help you fix the car. They need some help with the car and they ask him to help. But he’s busy preparing your case and the court date is tomorrow, so he says no. Does that make him arrogant? Does that mean he’s not willing to serve you? No. It means that he knows exactly what his expertise is, and exactly what his job is. He knows that the best way he can serve you right now is by preparing the case for you. If he does something less important, then the important thing wouldn’t get done.
It was the same way with the apostles. They knew that the work they were doing was more important for them than the feeding program. It doesn’t mean that the feeding program was unimportant. Just that it wasn’t their job. That was for somebody else to do. I brought up all of these things to make this point: Servanthood doesn’t mean doing everything yourself. Being a servant doesn’t mean that you burn yourself out doing everything.
Romans 12:4 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are all parts of his one body, and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others. 6 God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out when you have faith that God is speaking through you. 7 If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching. 8 If your gift is to encourage others, do it! If you have money, share it generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
1 Corinthians 12 ”5 There are different kinds of service in the church, but it is the same Lord we are serving. 6 There are different ways God works in our lives, but it is the same God who does the work through all of us. 7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church.”
Servanthood involves doing your part, not doing everyone’s part.
III. Let’s look at a passage that will help us to understand what servanthood is:
Philippians 2:3-9 “3 Don’t be selfish; don’t live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself. 4 Don’t think only about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and what they are doing. 5 Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. 6 Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. 7 He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. 8 And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross. 9 Because of this, God raised him up to the heights of heaven and gave him a name that is above every other name”
1. Servanthood is unselfishness.
Servanthood involves laying your own desires and wants and luxury and everything else down for the sake of the Kingdom. Even though being a servant doesn’t mean you have to do everything, it does require that you give everything. When a servant does something, it is always for the good of his master, never for his own good. Remember that we’re not only talking about serving God here, but we’re talking about serving each other. In order to be a servant, you have to truly put the interests of everyone else ahead of your own. It means that if you have a choice to make, and one choice will benefit you and the other will benefit your brothers and sisters, a servant must choose the one that will benefit the others. That means that when it comes to serving, even though you don’t have to do everything, the determining factor for whether or not you do something is not whether it’s good for you or convenient for you, but whether its good for the group. For example, if the Twelve had waited on tables, there would be nobody to preach to them and teach them. If you do everything, you’ll burn out, and that’s bad for the group. But the fact is that when you decide to become a servant, and especially a servant-leader you have to know that you don’t come first anymore. Your own desires and needs and goals and dreams have to take a back burner to the good of your brothers and sisters.
2. Servanthood is not worrying about what others think of you.
Many times when we do things, we’re so concerned about what others think. Our culture tells us that “image is everything.” Our society is so concerned with what others think. Often, if we’re honest, our actions are greatly influenced by what others will think. And many times we’re so busy trying to impress people that we don’t actually accomplish anything. It’s like a group of friends I had in college. They formed a Christian band. They spent weeks talking about things like the name of the band, what they would call the first album, what the cover would look like, and all kinds of things like that. They were so worried about their band’s image, that they never actually produced any good music. I think eventually they had a few songs, but the band quickly fizzled out. The problem was that they were so worried about the band’s image that they never accomplished anything. There was no band to have an image for. And we sometimes do the same things. Maybe we don’t do something that we know we should do, or we don’t say something that we know we should say, because we’re afraid of what others may think. Maybe they’ll disagree with us, or maybe we’ll look foolish. The fact is that in order to be a servant, we need to set our own image aside.
3. Servanthood is humility.
Especially when servanthood involves leadership, there is always the temptation to be proud. Anybody who says that humility is easy for them, is proud. I remember reading the Screwtape Letters. One demon was writing to the other demon some suggestions to make this believer turn from God. And one of his suggestions was to allow him to be humble, until he says, “By jove I’m being humble.” That little trick is so real in all of our lives. Pride is the one temptation that becomes worse when you’ve overcome it. If you achieve humility, the temptation is there to be proud of your humility. The fact is, that we are servants of a great God who has promised us that he will do great things for us and through us. Sometimes when these great things happen, we have the tendency to be proud of them. But the fact is that we have nothing to be proud of. Anything that is bad in us, we can take credit for. But anything we do that is good is only by the Grace of God. Apart from God, we cannot accomplish one useful thing. The key to winning the victory over pride is to understand this: that you cannot take credit for anything good you have done.
Being humble in servanthood means not worrying about who gets the credit for something. Humility is a great struggle. I remember that something good happened a few weeks ago. It was really good news and I wanted to share it with some people. Now there was a simple way to tell the story and a slightly more complex way. But in the slightly more complex way, my role in this event became evident. So, when I told the story, almost every time, I made sure to tell the complex version, lest someone think that I was not involved in this. Now, I recognize that all of the glory belongs to God. It really doesn’t matter who was involved. Because the fact is that there were many people involved, and without even one of those people, it may not have come together. And we all have to realize that.
I heard the story one time of a preacher who had prayed and prayed and preached and preached for this particular person to become a believer. I mean, he had really worked hard on this person, but it seemed like he wasn’t getting anywhere. One week, he was going on a mission trip to Mexico, so he had a guest speaker in his church. When he got back, he heard the great news that this person had believed in Jesus. And he was so upset. Because he had worked so hard, he thought that he should be the one to bring this person to Christ. If we’re true servants, we don’t worry about who will get the credit for things. We only worry about getting done what needs to be done. We just do our job.
1 Corinthians 3:5 Who is Apollos, and who is Paul, that we should be the cause of such quarrels? Why, we’re only servants. Through us God caused you to believe. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. 6 My job was to plant the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God, not we, who made it grow. 7 The ones who do the planting or watering aren’t important, but God is important because he is the one who makes the seed grow.
4. Servanthood is a genuine interest in others.
I think that this part of servanthood really shows the practicality of God’s ways. If I was trying to define servanthood on my own, I might come up with all of the other definitions in this verse, but this one seems a little out of place. Indeed, I would say that this is not a characteristic of a regular servant. However, God says that it must be a characteristic of a Christian servant. If you want to be a servant, you don’t just have to do things for other people because it’s required. You have to really deeply care about those people. You have to take a genuine interest in those people. I think only recently the corporate world is realizing that good managers aren’t those who can boss people around the best or those who can trick people into working. The best managers are those who can develop a real relationship with their employees, those who can make a genuine connection with their employees. But what took the corporate world all this time to figure out, God knew all along. He said that if you want to be an effective servant leader, you have to have a genuine interest in those people you serve. If you only do for them, because it’s your job, they’ll see that. But when people see that you are motivated by a true love and a true concern, they’ll accept your leadership. People aren’t interested in leaders that aren’t interested in them. So if you want to be a servant, you can’t be someone who’s only interested in getting the job done, because it has to be done. You can’t be like the maid who dusts and cleans all day, but as soon as 5 o’clock comes and she goes home, she doesn’t care what the house looks like. You must be genuinely interested in others.
5. Servanthood is giving up your own rights.
I love to argue. I only wish that I had had the opportunity to join a debate team at some point in my life. I especially love to be right. But the fact is that the Christian servant must be willing to give up his rights. Now, I’m not talking about compromising truth. Jesus was God. He never gave up being God. He never gave up his Godness. However, as God he had the right to leave men alone to their own wicked ways, but he gave up that right. He had the right to back out of the plan in the Garden of Gethsemane, but he gave up that right when he said, “Thy will be done.” He had the right to call ten thousand angels to take him off the cross, but he gave up that right.
If Jesus had exercised his rights at any time, that wouldn’t have been wrong. Those were his rights. They belonged to him. It would have been devastating for us, but it would be his right. And sometimes we have rights too. But when we are Christian servants, we sometimes need to voluntarily give up those rights for the benefit of others. If we don’t give up those rights are we wrong? Not necessarily. Paul gives an example in 1 Corinthians 9
1 Corinthians 9:3-14
3 This is my answer to those who question my authority as an apostle. F43 4 Don’t we have the right to live in your homes and share your meals? 5 Don’t we have the right to bring a Christian wife F44 along with us as the other disciples and the Lord’s brothers and Peter F45 do? 6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have to work to support ourselves? 7 What soldier has to pay his own expenses? And have you ever heard of a farmer who harvests his crop and doesn’t have the right to eat some of it? What shepherd takes care of a flock of sheep and isn’t allowed to drink some of the milk? 8 And this isn’t merely human opinion. Doesn’t God’s law say the same thing? 9 For the law of Moses says, "Do not keep an ox from eating as it treads out the grain." F46 Do you suppose God was thinking only about oxen when he said this? 10 Wasn’t he also speaking to us? Of course he was. Just as farm workers who plow fields and thresh the grain expect a share of the harvest, Christian workers should be paid by those they serve. 11 We have planted good spiritual seed among you. Is it too much to ask, in return, for mere food and clothing? 12 If you support others who preach to you, shouldn’t we have an even greater right to be supported? Yet we have never used this right. We would rather put up with anything than put an obstacle in the way of the Good News about Christ.
Paul spends many verses spelling out very clearly that he and Barnabus have the right to be supported by the churches that they have started. He leaves no question, in the end that he is right. But look at what he says in verse 12, “yet we have never used this right. We would rather put up with anything than put an obstacle in the way of the Good News about Christ.” Paul was a true servant, because he knew that he was unquestionably right, but he said, my right doesn’t matter. I’m willing to voluntarily give up my right for the sake of those I’m serving.
Now, I don’t know what rights you or I may have to give up for the sake of the Kingdom. But the fact is that if we want to be servants, we have to be willing to give up not only those things that are wrong, but we even have to give up things that we deserve, for the sake of the Kingdom.
6. Servanthood is the only way to real glory.
This is one of the many paradoxes of Scripture. Our flesh tells us that if we want to advance ourselves, we have to do the opposite of all of these things. We have to make all of our decisions based on what we can get out of it; we have to be selfish. We have to carefully maintain our image. We have to make sure that we get the credit when we do things right, and properly pass the blame when we do things wrong. We have to maybe pretend to be interested in people, but we don’t have to actually have an interest. We have to be like a politician, making sure our picture is taken holding and kissing babies. We have to make people think that we’re for them. And we have to learn to stand up for ourselves and exert our rights. But these are exactly the opposite of the way that Jesus says Christian leaders will find success.
IV. A servant is a drink offering – pouring out their life.
In the Old Testament sacrificial system they had a kind of offering called a “drink offering.” It usually accompanied another kind of offering, like a burnt offering. In the drink offering, the priest would take a glass of wine and pour it upside down and empty it onto the ground. And I think that this is a great image of what we are to be as Christian servants. We take our lives, which have great value and great potential and we pour them out for Christ. The drink offering is like a waste of a good drink. Except it’s offered to God. And many times when people want to serve Christ, people tell them that they are wasting their life. But that drink is of far greater value as an offering to God than it could ever have been as a thirst quencher. And it’s true of our lives too. When we offer our lives in Christian service, compared with all the great accomplishments and wealth we could have amassed, it may seem like a waste. But the life that is poured out for God is of far greater value than one that is used fully for worldly gains.
2 Timothy 4:6, “As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near.”
I think we can see an example of this in John 12: “1 Six days before the Passover ceremonies began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus – the man he had raised from the dead. 2 A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus sat at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with fragrance. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples – the one who would betray him – said, 5 "That perfume was worth a small fortune. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor." 6 Not that he cared for the poor – he was a thief who was in charge of the disciples’ funds, and he often took some for his own use. 7 Jesus replied, "Leave her alone. She did it in preparation for my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but I will not be here with you much longer."
You can see in Judas’ question that he thought that pouring out that perfume was a waste of perfectly good and expensive perfume. But Mary was offering that perfume as a “drink offering” to Jesus. Now, there was no practical benefit to that perfume. I don’t know if you’ve ever broken a jar of perfume, but I’ve been around one, and it stinks. I’m sure that if she wanted to be practical, Mary could’ve dabbed just a little bit of this perfume on Jesus’ feet. Then it would have smelled better and she would have had more to do it again tomorrow. But she wasn’t being practical. I think that she was demonstrating that Jesus was worth wasting the perfume on. It was an illustration, a costly one, of her dedication to Jesus.
I think that nowadays, when we give to God, when we give money or ourselves, we’re too worried about the practical issues. God may want us to do something, but it doesn’t make sense to us, so we don’t want to do it. But when you offer yourself as a “drink offering” to God and to others, it doesn’t always matter what is accomplished. It doesn’t have to always be the most efficient way.
V. Criteria for choosing servant leaders.
Now, it’s impossible to come up with one list of criteria for servant leaders, because all of them serve in many different ways. However, if we look again at Acts 6 and see the criteria that the Twelve established for choosing men to administer the feeding program we can glean some insight.
Acts 6:3 "Now look around among yourselves, brothers, and select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. We will put them in charge of this business.”
A. The men had to be respected. The reason for this is that you’ll remember the problem was that some were saying that the food was being distributed unfairly. If the Twelve had chosen and imbalanced group to take charge of the program, then the same complaints could still be made, if not by the same group, then by another group. The fact is that in order to stop the complaints they had to choose people who were respected by all of the interested parties. Otherwise the problem would have been magnified, not solved.
They same thing is true now. Nobody is going to make a good leader if the people don’t respect them. How can someone get people to follow them if the people have no respect for them. All that will happen is that everyone will second guess them, or think that they’re playing favorites every time a problem comes up or something.
Now, this is very different from choosing someone who is popular. The fact is that just because someone is popular doesn’t mean that people trust that persons decisions and leadership. In fact, often the popular decision isn’t the right decision. Think about teachers in high school. Who were the popular teachers? Probably the ones who didn’t give any homework. I remember one teacher who I had for physics class. Mr. Deveney may have taught about 6 or 8 days all year, usually 2 days before he had to give us a test because he needed something to grade us on. Every other day, we just goofed off while he socialized with some of the students. Students who wanted to could even “dip” in his class. I became an expert in paper football that year. Now, Mr. Deveney was a very popular teacher. But I look back and realize that I don’t know anything about physics. Even though I loved that class, I don’t respect Mr. Deveney. I don’t trust him. I wouldn’t want to choose him as a leader. So, popularity and respect are not the same thing.
When choosing a leader, you have to choose someone you can respect. Not only someone you can respect, but someone the whole group can respect. You must ask yourself the questions:
1. Will I trust their decisions?
2. Will the whole group trust their decisions?
3. Is this someone I would want to follow?
4. Is this someone our whole group would want to follow?
5. Is this person respected?
B. The men had to be full of the Holy Spirit. Now, I’m not going to try to interpret that for you tonight. What I want us to learn from this is that the Spiritual life of the person is very important. Now, all these men would be doing was administrative work, running a food program, but they had to be full of the Holy Spirit. Notice that none of the criteria are that they had to own a restaurant before or they had to have experience with a food pantry. Those criteria may be expected, but the unexpected on is established. And I think that we have to learn something from this. No matter what the type of leadership, whether it seems spiritual or it seems like just a normal job, the spiritual life of the candidate is the most important criteria.
C. The men had to be full of wisdom. I think that this criteria is the one that is pretty obvious. They have to be able to do the job. This task involved a very sensitive issue in the church and properly correcting the problem would require great wisdom. Let’s take for example a treasurer. Before you can select a treasurer you must make sure it’s someone you can respect and trust. You must be sure that this person has a good spiritual standing with God. But then you have to make sure the person can add. If you want to choose a secretary, you have to be sure that they can write. If you want to choose someone whose job requires them to lead a service, you have to make sure they can speak properly. While it is very important that the person be respected and Godly, it is also necessary that the have the ability to serve in the capacity for which you are choosing them.
c. 2001
