Servanthood

We all serve someone. For some, it is themselves. They are slaves to their own ambitions, lusts, intellect, work, addictions, pleasures, egos, pride and many other self-serving attributes. For some it is a false religion or god. Others may worship another person, denying themselves but living for a family member or partner. Others serve God, our Father, Jesus Christ His only Son and the Holy Spirit.
The word servant appears throughout the Bible in many forms. It’s apparent that servanthood is a characteristic and necessary part of the Christian life. Here is just a small sample of references which illustrate this concept (all NIV version of the Bible, bold highlighting mine)

“Paul,a servant of Christ Jesus,...." Romans 1:1
"Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus..." Philippians 1:1
"Paul, a servant of God...." Titus 1:1
"Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus..." Philemon 1:1
"James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" James 1:1
"Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ..." 2 Peter 1:1
"Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ...." Jude 1:1
"...his servant John" Revelation 1:1

"Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house," Hebrews 3:5
"If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself" Galatians 6:3
"serve one another in love." Galatians 5:13
"if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons" 1 Timothy 3:10
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves." Philippians 2:3

Moses, David, Nehemiah, Job, Isaiah, Abraham, Jacob, Samuel, Nathan, Mary the mother of Jesus, Daniel, Hannah and Simeon, amongst many others, all referred to themselves as servants.

There are numerous references throughout the Bible and particularly in the Old Testament, where there is a comparison made between the people serving God, which resulted in His favour, or turning away and serving other Gods, which resulted in God’s wrath and judgement:
e.g. “commit yourselves to the Lord and serve Him only and He will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines” (Samuel speaking to the Israelites, 1 Samuel 7:3);
“If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you. But the people said to Joshua “No we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:20,21)

God refers to Jesus as His servant:  "Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight" (the prophesy of Isaiah regarding Jesus recorded in Matthew 12:18, referring to Isaiah 42:1)
God Himself generally refers to His people as His servants eg. "Have you considered my servant Job?" Job 1:8
"Do not fear O Jacob, my servant, do not be dismayed O Israel." (In this case the people of God as a whole were referred to as a servant. Jeremiah 46:27, echoing Jeremiah 30:10)

Jesus referred to servanthood and stresses the value of service throughout His ministry on earth. The parables contain numerous illustrations of servants, including the parable of the talents, which contains the master’s words which we all aspire to hearing from our Saviour, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:21).

Jesus not only spoke about servanthood, but demonstrated it by washing the feet of his disciples, a task usually undertaken by a servant: “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.” (John 13:14)

Jesus addressed His disciples, when they were indignant with James and John for requesting a position of honour alongside Jesus:
“Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave- 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.”  Matthew 20: 25-28
What amazingly humble words these were from the Creator of the universe, the King of all Kings.

Jesus, raised his disciples above the status of a servant:
“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” (John 15:15)
Yet shortly after speaking the above cited verse, Jesus reiterated His words of John chapter 13: “No servant is greater than his master” (John 15:20).

What a privilege it is to be known as a friend of Jesus. It is like a loving family which has a servant and adopts that servant to become their own son or daughter. Within this comparison, though, we would note that an adoptee would still be required to perform tasks to assist the family – relationship would come with responsibility. It is therefore not inappropriate that Christians, although friends of Christ, or children of God, may still call themselves servants, as the disciples did. We are always required to serve God and the world in which we live.

Whom do you serve? May we say, with Joshua, that well-known verse depicted on many a household plaque: "As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."  (Joshua 24:15)

Thank You Father God for the precious gift You gave us, Your Son Jesus Christ, given in love, that whosoever would believe in Him and turn to Him in repentance and faith would not perish but would receive a precious life of eternal relationship with You. Thank You Father for the servant heart displayed by Your Son, who honoured You and served this fallen world even while we were yet sinners. Thank You for the example of those men and women throughout the Bible who called themselves your servants. May we, Your church seek to serve You, each other and a world that does not yet know You throughout our lives, we pray. We ask this in the precious name of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen