Servanthood
Clark asked me to speak about the key value of servanthood. I tried to argue my way out of it because I am not an authority on this topic, but Clark is not a man who is easily dissuaded. So here are my thoughts on servanthood:
The most important thing to remember whenever servanthood is discussed is that we cannot be saved through works. Eph 2:8-9 tells us: "By grace we have been saved through faith and this is not from ourselves, it is a gift from God, -not by works so that no man can boast." And in Titus (3:5) we are told, "He saved us not because of the righteous thing we have done but because of his mercy." We are saved by grace alone. Jesus tells us in John 6:29, "The works of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
So if we can be saved and go to heaven just by believing, why worry about works? Why discuss servanthood? Because the Bible also tells us we are to be imitators of God. In Eph 5:1 it says, "Be imitators of God as dearly loved children and live a life of love." Certainly Jesus believed in God and knew he would go to heaven when he died, but he constantly did works while on earth. He taught and preached and healed and befriended the friendless...in fact he had no other job for three years other than being a servant. He spent his life being an imitator of God just as we are called to be.
The Bible also tells us in Galations (6:10) "Do good to all people especially those who belong to the family of believers." In 1 John (4:11) "Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." And in Mark (12:30-31) "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself. There is no greater commandment than this." We have all heard these verses many, many times. But James 1:24 is a verse we don't often hear. In it God commands, "Do not merely listen to the word, do what it says." My paraphrase of this verse is, "Don't just sit there and listen to these scriptures week after week! Get out there and do what I've been telling you to do!"
God gets even clearer in James 4:17, " Anyone who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it - sins." Ouch!! God hates sin. Not because sin hurts him but because it hurts us! He loves us and wants the best for us. When we work for him it is pleasing to him. First, because we are loving others but just as importantly because he knows it will make us happy and make our faith come alive. James 2:26 tells us "As the body without the spirit is dead so faith without works is dead." Christians who do not demonstrate their faith with actions have a dead faith. Don't we owe him more than that? God doesn't want our faith to be dead. He wants us to be vibrant and alive in our faith, demonstrating it daily to others, because he knows then we will be truly happy. Plus we will be helping others and bring glory to him.
It's like this: Say a player does what is required to make a team but after making the team is content to just sit on the bench and watch the rest of the team play the game. The coach is not going to be very pleased. #1 Because the team does so much better when all the players give the game their best #2 Because he hates to see this player squander the fine gifts he's been given and #3 Because he cares about ALL of his players and hates to see this one missing out on the fun. The coach knows the team can still win the championship without this players participation but this player won't really share in the glory when it happens. Sue, he'll get his picture in the paper with the team and his own medal just like the rest of the players but he won't feel the joy and satisfaction that comes from participation and a job well done.
It's the same for Christians. We can get our names in the Book of Life just by believing, but God wants us to share in the full celebration he has for us on this earth and beyond and that comes with servanthood.
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