How do you think of yourself as a member of the body of Christ?  I would venture to say that most people within the life of the Christian church would define themselves as such — a Christian.  Perhaps it’s because we’ve lost sight of what it means to be connected to the body of Christ in the life of the church.  We use language like, “the church is looking for volunteers.”  But a volunteer is someone who does something based on their own will, choice, or consent — something done of their own volition.  None of us who are attached to the body of Christ come as volunteers.  Each of us were called by God to be a part of this body.  And because we accepted the call means we did not do it of our own volition.

         But read again how Paul defines himself — “as your servants for Jesus’ sake.  Servants.  That’s how Paul defines himself (Romans 1:1).  And not Paul only, but Abram (Psalm 105:42), and Moses (Joshua 14:7), and Timothy (Philippians 1:1), and James (James 1:1), and Simon Peter (2 Peter 1:1), and Jude (Jude 1:1), and Joshua (Joshua 24:29), and Hannah (1 Samuel 1:11) and Phoebe, and Martha, and Tabitha, and Mary, Jesus’ mother.  All of these identified themselves — introduced themselves as servants of the Lord.  So, it seems that those of us in this contemporary age have lost what it means to be a servant, to identify as a servant of God.  But we seem to have adopted the attitude of a volunteer — someone who does what they feel like doing when they feel like doing it or have the time to do it.  Perhaps our greatness as a church and as a community of believers could be reignited if we introduced ourselves — if no place else but in our minds — as servants of Christ and then set ourselves to the task of becoming the greatest servant of Christ and his church.

• Are there negative connotations associated with identifying ourselves as a servant of Christ that might prevent people from identifying themselves as such?
• How could a change in attitude about the label “servant” enable us to think more positively about servanthood?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Gracious Christ, help me to fully embrace what it means to be your servant. Enable me to embrace servanthood with humility so that I may become one among the greatest servants in Your name.

         Titles that we accept for ourselves can have a profound impact on how we are viewed and understood.  And there are many titles.  Mother, father, housekeeper, employee, worker, Reverend, President, chairperson, ex-con, prisoner, prostitute, etc. — these are all titles that affect how others view us.  They can elevate our status in the eyes of others or they can lower our status.  They can state our importance within a community or reduce our importance to being of little or no value.  They can — by their very nature — command a certain level of respect, or they can remove any notion that we are to be respected.  And they can place on us expectations and responsibilities from others or announce to the world that we are to be considered irresponsible.  The wrong label — no matter how contemporary — can have a devastating impact on who or what we call ourselves dependent on how another interprets its meaning.  Yet, in the eyes of God, only one title carries significant weight.  That is the title of servant — one who assumes the role of humility engaged in serving God by serving others.  The title of servant places everyone at God’s discretion to be exalted or humbled — to be honored or humiliated.  If there is a competition, it is one that exists between those of us who choose to be true to Christ.  Christ has already shown himself to be the greatest servant, humbling himself to death.  We can only become the greatest by imitating Christ and being known as one who has been found faithful to become a servant through fulfilling God’s call to be among the greatest.

• What titles have you held that have exalted or humbled your status among others in your life?
• Did you ever understand any of those titles to be that of a servant?
• Does being considered a servant make you feel valued or unvalued — and why?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Almighty God, humble me that I might accept my title of servant as one of respect that humbles me. Let my service to others be honored by You as one among the greatest servants and imitators of Christ.

         Several years ago, I pastored a church where there was a tremendous youth ministry program.  The program was based off of the scripture in John 14:12 which says:

“12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

Because the scripture quoted Jesus saying that as believers, we would do greater things than he did.  We believed that.  So, we titled the program, “I Am Made for Greatness.”  The entire church got behind the movement and each Sunday we would close our worship service affirming what we wanted to instill into the youth and ultimately, the entire congregation with these words:

“I am made for greatness; created in the image of God; motivated by the Spirit of God; consecrated by the blood of Jesus Christ; dedicated to the glory of his life; elevated by the love of God; celebrated by the joy of God; anticipated by the Kingdom of God; I am made for Greatness!

         However, we failed to connect our desire for greatness to a life of selfless service to Christ and others.  Even with all that we had been blessed with by God — greatness and service was never tied together as a single objective.  And while the ministry was successful, it fell apart because the harvest was plentiful, but the laborers were few.  The church had not fully captured — and the leadership had not clearly presented them with the image that greatness in the eyes of God is defined by our willingness to serve others.  It’s defined by the standard of selfless service to others which ultimately leads to and gives praise and honor to God.  Perhaps if we could all accept the central truth that joyful, selfless service determines our status in the Kingdom of God, we could set our goal to be the greatest serving each other in a way that glorifies God and Christ.

• How important is being a servant of God and Christ to you in your faith journey?
• What makes being in service to others difficult?
• What do we need to do individually and as a church to become the greatest servants of Christ?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Loving and merciful God, turn my heart away from desires for greatness through serving myself. Empower me to be the greatest servant through a life of loving, humble service to others to Your glory.