Tag Archives: servant

You can eat later (Luke 17:7-10) December 14, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 143-145

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 17:7-10
Jesus: Imagine this scenario. You have a servant—say he’s been out plowing a field or taking care of the sheep—and he comes in hot and sweaty from his work. Are you going to say, “You poor thing! Come in and sit down right away”? Of course not! Wouldn’t you be more likely to say, “First, cook my supper and set the table, and then after I’ve eaten, you can get something to eat and drink for yourself”? And after your servant has done everything you told him to do, are you going to make a big deal about it and thank him? I don’t think so! Now apply this situation to yourselves. When you’ve done everything I’m telling you to do, just say, “We’re servants, unworthy of extra consideration or thanks; we’re just doing our duty.”

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

We get pretty disturbed today with a story like this one. Slavery is not something we think very highly of and we fought an internal battle that almost destroyed our fledgling democracy with the question of slavery as one of its major issues. Today slavery still goes on in the world. I’m not sure we will ever stop it as long as there are people who want cheap labor and there are people that can be exploited to perform that labor.

We talk a lot about human rights and anti-slavery laws both in the United States and internationally, but it still happens. Thousands of women and young boys are sold into the sex trafficking world every day and become slaves to their masters. Imprisoned by fear, drugs, abuse, they cannot escape their plight without considerable help from the outside. But those the hope that it will come is dim because the people that buy their wares are not interested in seeing them freed. They just want their own desires satisfied.

So we cringe as a society when we hear this story. But in Jesus’ day, as in most of the world two hundred years ago, slaves were a common sight. Men, women, and children belonged to others as property. Sometimes they became slaves voluntarily to pay the debt they owed and it was the only way they could relieve themselves of the debt. Sometimes it was the price of one king conquering the military force of another. The subjects of the vanquished became the slaves of the victor. But whatever the cause, men, women, and children found themselves subject to the commands of the master who owned them.

We might get a glimpse of what Jesus was talking about if you think about going to your favorite restaurant instead. You’ve sat down at a booth and can see the hot line from the kitchen. The waiter brings you a glass of water and a menu. He takes your order, but then sits down at the table across from you and begins to eat his lunch. In a few minutes the chef puts your food on the hot line under the lights to keep it warm and signals your waiter that your food is ready. But instead of getting your food, he keeps eating, pulls out his smartphone and reads a few messages. He sends a few texts and then goes and gets a piece of pie for dessert. All the while, your food is getting either nice and soggy or overdone under the warming lights.

Would you tell the waiter he was doing a good job? Would you leave him a generous tip? Would you ask specifically for his table the next time you come because he has become your favorite waiter? No, of course not. If you haven’t already said some choice words to the young man, you’ll probably want to see the manager on the way out and give him your opinion of his worthless wait staff. You might even ask for a refund on your meal since you had to watch it ruin under the warming lights while your waiter enjoyed himself eating on your time.

The waiter should have served you first, right? Customers first in the customer service world, right? Pay attention to those who are paying your salary, right? The waiter obviously didn’t get the memo on what his duties and responsibilities were. He should have been happy to have a customer sitting at one of his tables. It meant money was coming into the restaurant. It meant he would get paid for doing his job and if he did it well, he would probably get a tip from his customers. Besides, he took the job. If he didn’t want to wait tables and serve people, he shouldn’t have taken the job in the first place. But he did and now he was shirking his responsibilities.

It’s a good thing he wasn’t a slave. He’d be beaten or sold or just killed. As a waiter, if this was a normal pattern, I expect he won’t be a waiter very long. He’ll probably find himself on the outside of that restaurant pretty soon. But if he wants to keep his job, he’d better shape up.

So what about our responsibilities as Christians? We have duties and responsibilities God gave us when He commissioned us to go make disciples. Should we complain about it? Take a lesson from the slaves and the waiter. If you don’t like what He asks you to do, remember who He is and who you are. That should put things in perspective pretty quickly. It’s time to serve, you can eat later. 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

We are nothing, but enough (Mark 10:42-45) August 25, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Proverbs 19

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 10:42-45
Jesus: You know that among the nations of the world the great ones lord it over the little people and act like tyrants. But that is not the way it will be among you. Whoever would be great among you must serve and minister. Whoever wants to be great among you must be slave of all. Even the Son of Man came not to be served but to be a servant—to offer His life as a ransom for others.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Serving in the military for thirty years makes you pretty proficient at understanding hierarchy, chain-of-command, authority, and so forth. A definitive rank structure holds the system in place in an organization that at times requires leaders to send subordinates into battle knowing that some may not return. No one likes war less than soldiers. They understand the stakes involved and although soldiers do as they are told, those that enjoy war are usually discharged because they obviously have something wrong with them. Soldiers detest war.

That hierarchy is necessary in keeping everything moving and working well in war. Someone must determine the objectives that must be taken if the war is to be won. Someone must determine what units and what soldiers must put their boots on the ground to take possession of these key pieces of terrain and deny the enemy their strategic value if the military is to decide the outcome of a conflict.

The various arms of the military work together to put munitions on targets and soften the enemy, perhaps even causing surrender of mass numbers of enemy before soldiers move forward, but ultimately, some soldier with little rank will stand on a piece of ground formerly held by enemy troops before victory can be declared. The generals determine what those targets will be. The generals approve those objectives and the lines and lanes on which soldiers will move to reduce the risk to friendly forces, but maximize the destruction of enemy strength.

The generals orchestrate the battle. Then the orders flow downhill. Colonels pass their part to their brigades and battalions. Lieutenant colonels give their directions to their company commanders to accomplish their part of the mission. Company commanders pass orders to their platoons to further refine their smaller piece of the mission. Platoons give their squads an even smaller part of the overall mission and the squads break the tasks down to team level. The team leader then assigns tasks to each team member. Each soldier has his or her job to do to make sure the generals’ plans are accomplished.

But something is wrong with those organization charts the way they are drawn for almost every military and civilian organization with any kind of hierarchy. You see, just as in the military illustration, although the general approves the plans and determines which objectives to win, it’s the privates who carry out the work. They should be at the top of the pyramid with the generals at the bottom. It’s really all those privates and corporals and sergeants who get the work done.

The same is true in every corporation. There is someone in charge and that person is important, they take a lot of risk and give direction to the company’s employees, but all those employees get the work done every day. Those are the people that make the products, sell the commodities, interface with the customers, make the revenue. Without those folks at the bottom of that hierarchy, the corporation would fold. Are those at the bottom of the chain of command easier to replace than those at the top? Maybe. But that doesn’t make them any less important. That doesn’t decrease their value to the overall accomplishment of the goals and objectives of the leadership.

As Christians in the work force, we need to remember Jesus’ words. Whoever would be great among you must be a servant of all. Remember that the further up the ladder of what the world calls success you might progress, the more important to serve those others might say are beneath you. They are not. They are the ones you hold up so the missions can be completed. They are the ones you lift with your encouragement, your enthusiasm, your resources, so their job can be done and your objectives achieved. You are their servant to make sure they have what they need to do the job you asked them to do.

From Jesus’ perspective, the ones the world thinks are great are not so great. He measures people from the perspective of God. No one measures up. So if you think you are climbing high and about to reach the pinacle of success, just think about where you are compared to God. He owns it all. How much gold has yet to be mined on this planet? How much more is out there in the rest of the universe? How do you measure God’s net value? How many diamonds does God own? What is the value of His real estate? Get the picture? When we compare ourselves to God, no matter how great we might think we are, we are nothing. Yet He loves us enough to come and live alongside us for a while, die for our sins, and give Himself to us to guide us in His truth every day.

We are nothing compared to God, but important enough to Him that He gave His very best for us. Just imagine!

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

The servant of all (Mark 9:33-35) August 13, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – John 5-6

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 9:33-35
At last, they came to Capernaum where they gathered in a house.
Jesus: What was it I heard you arguing about along the way?
They looked down at the floor and wouldn’t answer, for they had been arguing among themselves about who was the greatest of Jesus’ disciples.
Jesus: Whoever wants to be first must be last, and whoever wants to be the greatest must be the servant of all.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

There is a lot of talk about servant leadership, especially in Christian circles. We’re told if you want to really make an impact on the world you need to lead, but you need to serve the people you lead. You need to show others the way, guide them to the truth, teach them about God and His plans for this world and for all humankind, but do it as a servant. Leader and servant are pretty contradictory terms when you think about it.

A leader is defined as a person who leads: as a : guide, conductor b (1) : a person who directs a military force or unit (2) : a person who has commanding authority or influence c (1) : the principal officer of a British political party (2) : a party member chosen to manage party activities in a legislative body (3) : such a party member presiding over the whole legislative body when the party constitutes a majority d (1) : conductor c (2) : a first or principal performer of a group

While a servant is defined as one that serves others ; especially : one that performs duties about the person or home of a master or personal employer.

So how do you help others find their way to Christ, lead them toward Him, guide them to the truth, do the things that are described as the roles of a leader and yet live the life of a servant? Isn’t that an oxymoron, to ask someone to be both, to be a servant-leader? Does Jesus know what He’s saying when He tells us to lead from the back of the line instead of the front? How can we do that? What does He really mean?

I think the answer comes in two areas. First, we must check our character and our attitude. Jesus starts His ministry with the Sermon on the Mount. You can read it in Matthew chapters five through seven. He opens that sermon with a section we have title the Beatitudes. Stick a pause after the first sylable and you get His meaning in that sermonette. They are the Be Attitudes. He asks us to change how we think about ourselves and about others. He asks us to love God and love our all of His creation. He asks us to let God change our internal wiring so the way we think is transformed to the way He thinks about things. He wants our character, our attitude to mimic His.

When our character comes in line with His, we see others on an equal footing. All races, all socio-economic levels, all nationalities, both genders, all ages, everyone is created by God and for His purposes. When we recognize that, our attitude toward them changes. We begin to love all people. We begin to sorrow for those who cannot see the truth of God’s word because it is available to them and they know what it says about Jesus, the only way into God’s kingdom. If they choose to rebel against God, it is to their eternal peril. When we see the doom individuals bring upon themselves through God’s eyes, it should break our hearts.

The second thing this servant leader concept brings to mind is we must not only have Jesus’ attitude, but we must act like Jesus. No one can say Jesus did not serve those around Him. He proved Himself a servant day after day as He fed and healed and exorcised demons and preached and raised the dead and did anything and everything He could to ease the misery of those with whom He came in contact. Jesus served. I think He often served to the point of exhaustion. It why He sometimes had to get away and be alone with His Father. He just had to rest. He even washed His disciples feet as an example of His servanthood.

So are we to wash the feet of those we lead? Maybe. That’s not so necessary today since most people wear shoes and socks and we don’t have animals defecating in the streets anymore. But the point Jesus makes is that nothing is too demeaning for leaders to do if it furthers God’s kingdom. Nothing is below the level of what a leader should be willing to perform as we work along side those who work for us.

I have to tell you, the military and most organizations have their organization charts upside down. If we really focused on who is important in an organization, it’s the people at the bottom of those charts that do the work that make the products and clean the offices and answer the phones. Yes, the CEOs and the generals make decisions and take a lot of risk with their careers as they lead those within their organizations, but without all those people below them, the missions would never be accomplished. As a leadership consultant, I often shock those senior folks by showing those charts just that way, upside down, to get the point across. The people at the top should be the servant of all those they lead.

Jesus was a servant and He is the Son of God. If He can lower Himself to perform the lowliest task of the lowest servant in the household, washing animal feces off the feet of the guests before dinner, don’t you think we should serve those we lead as well? People flocked to His leadership style. If you want to be first, be last, the servant of all.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Living with the Master should be enough (Matthew 24:45-47) June 10, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Ezekiel 1-6

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 24:45-47
Jesus: The trustworthy servant is the one whom the master puts in charge of all the servants of his household; it is the trustworthy servant who not only oversees all the work, but also ensures the servants are properly fed and cared for. And it is, of course, crucial that a servant who is given such responsibility performs his responsibility to his master’s standards—so when the master returns he finds his trust has been rewarded. For then the master will put that good servant in charge of all his possessions.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

In our culture we don’t relate well to Jesus’ metaphor of the trustworthy servant. We do so much to forget about that chapter in our history when men owned other men and for good reason. Slavery has so many bad things about it. But in Jesus’ day and throughout most of man’s history, slaves have been a part of life. The wealthy had slaves and the poor were slaves. The concept of hourly wages for a regular job in not a very old concept.

There were day laborers in Jesus’ day as indicated by the story of the workers in the vineyard, but not many businesses hired people full time on regular salaries. You were part of a family and the family ran the business and you enjoyed the profits of that business, or you were hired on a very temporary basis for a specific task such as harvesting a crop or cutting lumber. Few people had full time jobs unless as slaves. In which case, you became part of the family, and the families profit and loss determined how well you were kept.

Slavery, good or bad, was part of His culture and He understood it the way all of His listeners understood it. Good servants, good slaves took care of his masters’ property. The master didn’t worry about his things when in the hands of his servants because the good servant knew the welfare of not just the master and his family, but his own welfare depended on taking good care of the family business. So the good servant took great pains to help the master prosper. And the good servant didn’t despair or feel bad about giving the profits to the master any more than we should feel bad about giving the profits we make for our employer over to her. It’s her money as risk. She is the one who provides all the necessary up front funds, equipment, business design, and so forth to all us to earn our salary and make a living.

The good servant did what the master wanted done whether or not the master was present. The servant’s outcome didn’t depend on the master’s presence, but on how well he didn his job caring for the master’s business affairs. We sometimes get that so mixed up and messed up in our current culture that thinks the government or our business or God owes us something. When you really stop and think it through, none of those owe us anything. It is by their design there is a job available in the first place. We should give thanks if we have one.

In cultures in which there is no such thing as social welfare or retirement funds or government assistance, people have a much better handle on what Jesus talked about in this short metaphor about the role of the servant in taking care of the master’s household. In those cultures, the only thing you can rely on is the work you perform. If you do well, the owner of the property will take good care of you. If you don’t perform well, you are put off the property and get to figure out how to make it on your own in a world where there are only masters and slaves and you just lost your only reference.

But when you are a trustworthy servant, it’s like being that employee the boss can count on for anything. The promotions come fast because the boss knows you will do what you say and will get the job done efficiently and effectively every time. You’ll take care of all the other employees in the process. You’ll satisfy the customers, you’ll make sure profits come in and the boss can go on vacation knowing everything will run smoothly when he puts you in charge.

That’s kind of what God has done with those who believe in Him. I’m not sure why He would entrust sinful man with the story of redemption but He did. Now He expects us to carry out His work until He returns. He’s like that master that went away and left his faithful servant in charge. He trusts us to do the work He left us to do. He expects us to do it to His standard without expecting anything in return, just knowing we are doing His work. Just like the faithful servant of the master in the story He told.

When we do, we will reap the benefits in the end. There is the reward of a job well done and the benefits of living in the master’s home with Him forever. That should be enough.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Learn to be a servant (Matthew 20:25-28) May 10, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Exodus 21-24

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 20:25-28
Jesus: Do you want the Kingdom run like the Romans run their kingdom? Their rulers have great power over the people, but God the Father doesn’t play by the Romans’ rules. This is the Kingdom’s logic: whoever wants to become great must first make himself a servant; whoever wants to be first must bind himself as a slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as the ransom for many.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Here’s another one of those speeches that got Jesus in so much trouble. “God the Father doesn’t play be the Romans’ rules.” Once again Jesus turned the world’s thought process upside down. Aren’t you supposed to work your way to the top? Aren’t you supposed to take your knowledge and wealth and power and find a position worthy of your experience as you get older? Aren’t you supposed to try to gain those seats of power in your workplace, in your home, at church, in your social circles?

That’s what the world tells us. There’s this caste system that’s alive and well around the globe. We make it easier to move between castes in this country. You might be born in poverty in the United States, but there are opportunities to break free from it through education and hard work. Your family caste in this country doesn’t lock you into generational bondage. Although sometimes we make it so by following in our parents footsteps.

In a lot of other countries, castes do determine your future. If you are lucky enough to be born into wealth and a higher caste, then you enjoy the privileges of the wealthy. If you are born into poverty, you are subject to remain there with no chance to break free from its strangle hold as long as you remain in that country. Most of the world, unfortunately, still operates under those ancient caste rules. But even in those rigid caste systems, there still remain glimmers of hope. One person in 50 or 100 might break through the bonds by the kindness of someone in the next caste above and be lifted up from the lower caste into the higher one. It doesn’t happen often, but it happens and so there is hope.

But now Jesus is saying it’s the servant, the slave, the people at the bottom of the caste system that will be held in highest esteem in God’s kingdom. How can that be? These people are the beggars on the streets. You don’t even see them. They are there, but if you keep your eyes up as you should, then they are the invisible vermin that populate the roads and ditches and sewers of the city. Why would Jesus insinuate that these people will be first in God’s kingdom?

The priests thought they should be first. They were the ones who entered into the Court of the Priests at the Temple and one of them each year, the high priest, actually went into the Holy of Holies once a year to make atonement for the whole nation. Shouldn’t they be given the seats of honor in God’s kingdom? Weren’t they closer to God that all the scum that littered the roadways?

Well, the world just doesn’t get it. Outward appearance has nothing to do with God’s kingdom. Our position and prestige don’t move God one iota. He is not impressed by the things that impress men. He made the world, so what can we do that impresses Him? We get impressed by the trappings people wear. Have you looked at the pictures from the Hubble telescope? You want to get impressed, take a look at those. God did that. Do you think anything you wear impresses Him?

But that’s not really it either. There are a lot of criminals, thugs, evil people sometimes found in every level of the castes. The poor have their share of evil just as much as the upper crust. The top tiers can often hide their evil a little better by doing so in the name of corporate investment, saving for future retirement, creating jobs by satisfying personal indulgences, and other such disguises.

But God sees our heart. Jesus talks about a servant heart. Do we serve self or do we serve others and in so doing serve God? That’s what real life is about. God created us to live in community and gave each of us different skill sets so we would be interdependent. We can get along with just a handful of people around us. But we thrive when we give our talents to others and let them give their talents in service to us. When we are interdependent, amazing things can happen. It’s like Proverbs says, a rope of three cords is not easily broken. We really do need each other.

So Jesus tells us it’s the servant’s heart in us that takes us to the top of God’s list. The problem with the wealthy, the power hungry, those seeking position more than anything else, they loose sight of what it means to have a servant’s heart and want to be served instead. Jesus turned it around and the leaders didn’t understand. It didn’t make sense to them because they bought into the world’s rhetoric.

Don’t let the world trap you into it’s idea of success. It doesn’t work. It won’t get you a seat on the bus to heaven. If you want to make it into God’s kingdom, learn to be a servant and practice every day. Practice makes perfect.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.