Becoming Servants

 Have you ever thought about the mentality of a slave? I mean, slaves were people just like we are. They had personalities, complete with dreams and hopes. Yet they lived in constant subjection to others—and not by choice!

I remember thinking a lot about slavery when I was younger. Admittedly, my motivation was because I felt like a slave to my family—and resented it! My children were small and demanding and my husband wasn't home much. Cleaning. Laundry. Ironing. Cleaning. Grocery shopping. Meals. Cleaning. Diapers. Toilet training. Cleaning. Budgeting. Scrimping. Cleaning. Peacekeeping. Baths. Cleaning. Need I say more? I wondered how slaves did it—day after day, at the beck and call of owners who failed to recognize them as persons, persons who needed rest and refreshment.

The difference is that I wouldn't have traded my "slavery" for anything in the world because, in spite of the fact that I might complain, I loved my family more than I hated the drudgery. And thinking about slaves made my exhaustion and even resentment of all my responsibilities seem like nothing in comparison.

I was blessed with a husband who recognized my need for occasional escape. Sometimes he took the kids with him to the store so I could have some time alone at home. Other times he stayed with them so I could go shopping in peace instead of carting along three little ones. He even vacuumed for me on occasion.

I discovered something, though: when I willingly, with no complaints, fulfilled my responsibilities, there was peace in my household, there was open love. Life was much better—for me and my family—when I was a loving servant.

Now, as I'm older, my servanthood is much different, partly because I understand the freedom in serving others, especially those I love. My father once said that he had always loved my mother, with a love as deep as he thought love could ever be. But the last eight years of her life brought one physical struggle after another. Dad was always there, caring for her, meeting her needs, being her servant. He said he found that in caring for her, he loved her even more than he had before.

We talk about Christian service in church or other Christian venues, but if we're honest, most of the service we do in ministry is service we want to do. Hopefully, that's because we are full of love for God and serve Him because He calls us to do so. But that's not always the case. Sometimes we serve to make ourselves look good. Sometimes we serve because we don't know how to say no to the person who asked us. Sometimes we think we are the only ones able to do the job, whatever it might be (of course, that's never really true and we may be depriving another of the joy of serving).  God knows our motives—and He alone knows the motives of others.

Although we may not be elders, I think it would behoove us to judge our personal service in light of the exhortations Peter wrote to elders:

...Shepherd the flock of God that is among you,

exercising oversight,

not under compulsion, but willingly,

as God would have you;

not for shameful gain, but eagerly;

not domineering over those in your charge,

but being examples to the flock.  
And when the chief Shepherd appears,
you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
1 Peter 5:2-4

This whole train of thought began, however, from studying the Gospel of Mark, which in turn led to the comparison of the teaching in Matthew. Jesus not only exemplified humility, he also taught it.  Jesus turned our definition of greatness inside out when he said, 

...But whoever would be great among you

must be your servant,

and whoever would be first among you

must be your slave,

even as the Son of Man came not to be served 

but to serve,

and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Matthew 20: 26-28

As we are being conformed to the image of God's Son (Romans 8:29), we need to learn both humility and servanthood. I think it is best expressed by those familiar verses in Philippians:

Have this mind among yourselves,

which is yours in Christ Jesus,

who, thought he was in the form of God,

did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,

being born in the likeness of men.

And being found in human form,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to the point of death,

even death on a cross.

Philippians 2:5-8