Jesus was very open about what it meant to follow him.  Efforts to be the greatest living image of Christ active in our community do not come without its dangers and liabilities.  And Jesus was clear that becoming like him would visit upon us the identical issues of persecution that he endured.  Maybe this is what makes being a servant — at least in the manner of Christ — an unpopular role to undertake.  No one wants to be persecuted.  The emotional and spiritual toll it can take on a person cannot be measured in typical ways.  And yet persecution exists on many levels.

         An article on the suffering church from a publication called “FaithWorks” listed the degrees of persecution one could experience for practicing their religious faith.  At the top of the list and most noticeable were disapproval, ridicule, shunning, loss of educational opportunities, and the pressure to conform.  Listed in the most extreme cases of persecution were loss of property, physical violence, harassment by officials, kidnapping, torture, and murder or execution.

         It’s not a pretty picture.  But imagine the persecution that can befall us when people previously excluded are now included; when being truthful becomes less popular than supporting “the lie”; when loyalty to God takes precedent over loyalty to peer pressure.  One wouldn’t expect that servanthood would lead a person into the arena of persecution.  But being the greatest of anything comes with a cost.  If Jesus, the greatest servant in the Kingdom of God was required to suffer persecution, then those of us who seek to emulate Jesus as great servants should expect no less.  It will mean we are blessed and the kingdom of God will be ours (Matthew 5:10).

And perhaps the absence of persecution means we aren’t faithful in our serving.

• How does the reality of persecution affect your desire to be among the greatest servants of God?
• Does considering other persecuted servants (Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Medger Evers, Jesus Christ) encourage or dissuade you from being among the great servants of God?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Merciful God, grant me the strength to endure persecution as I labor to be a worthy servant of Yours. Let my persecution as a servant be accepted as an act that gives honor and glory to you.

         I think we rarely consider serving others as a blessing.  For the most part, serving others is seen, understood, and approached in one of three ways.  One, we do it — not because we want to, but because we have to.  To that end it’s seen as an undesired, unwelcomed burden that we have to carry.  It’s typically phrased by statements like, “I got to … .“ It lands on us with the weight of an interference in our lives.

         Two, we do it because we have to.  Much like the first, we don’t see it as an unwelcomed burden, but as a duty and responsibility of faithfulness.  In some ways, it is self-serving.  If we didn’t have to do it, we wouldn’t.  But because we want to be viewed as the responsible party, we accept the responsibility as well as the accolades that may come because we had to do it — no one was able or available to do it but us.  The first two models come about because we have to do something that — perhaps — we’re not comfortable doing or we don’t feel we very qualified or good at doing it.

         But then there is the third option.  It is neither, “I got to … “, nor “I have to … “.  It comes from the attitude of saying, “I get to … !“  And within that, “I get to … “, there is a certain joy and willingness to serve others.  It’s understood as a privilege and not a responsibility.  It’s understood as a desire to serve and a “want to.”  And, yes, there may be a sense of responsibility connected to it.  But it comes from a desire to be faithful.  It emanates from a desire to serve others rather than self.  It stems from a position of humility and selflessness rather than self-importance.

         Perhaps the third model of servanthood is what makes it a blessing — a joy to be experienced as a service to God and others.  It enables us to meet other people’s needs — to be present in their lives at a time when they have the greatest need or are most vulnerable because we want to.  I believe Jesus served out of his joy of serving God and others because his ministry was meeting the needs of God and others.  He wanted to serve God.  If we are to be the greatest, perhaps it’s the “I GET TO … “ model of servanthood that leads us to be the greatest.

• When have you found yourself serving someone out of either model one or two?
• How would your willingness to serve change if you adopted an “I get to … “ model of servanthood?
• How might those you are serving perceive your service is you adopted the “I get to … “ model of servanthood?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Gracious Christ, create in me a desire and willingness to serve with an ““I get to … “ attitude of servanthood. Help me to model becoming the greatest servant after Christ.

         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.