The Fruits of Servanthood 4 (Influence Multiplied)
Through the years, I have had many leaders in many situations. I only remember details about two types and two types only: those who were harsh and those who were servants. Both types have led me to pray a lot. The former caused me to pray for patience and forgiveness and for them to repent and change or be taken out of leadership roles. The latter caused me to offer many prayers of thanksgiving. Many prayers—long after I was under their leadership, even after their deaths in some cases (think Wyndham Shaw). Between the harsh ones and the servant ones were the majority whose leadership I experienced, but I don’t remember too much about them. I suspect that they were focused on themselves enough to keep me from being so. You will be remembered by those whom you hurt or serve, but by few others. When you reach old age, if you are fortunate enough to live that long, you will think about your legacy, what you are leaving behind of yourself in the hearts and lives of others. Do something about it now by imitating God in being a servant.
In speaking about basic human needs, or love languages, acts of service are always included. It is my primary love language. I thank God for those who have served me and are serving me now. At the top of my prayer list, a long list, is my request for God to bless those who have been praying for me to be cured of cancer and who prayed for God to spare my life while I was in the hospital sitting with God on the brink of eternity. I can’t stop from shedding tears when I think about those in this category. Why? Because they are servants—they served me.
I imagine that some, perhaps many, who knew of my serious illness were never moved to pray at all. But I know for a fact that large numbers of my friends prayed earnestly and frequently for my healing, and still are. I wrote this near the beginning of September 2022, and then the jury was still out on whether my cancer was cured or not. Due to the severe reaction to the chemotherapy medication, I only took a partial amount of it. After getting out of the hospital, the radiation treatments resumed. I trusted that God had heard enough prayers from his servants, who are also my servants, to let that suffice for a cure.
After the radiation treatments were finished, I had to wait three months for further testing since the radiation continues to work for three months after treatments end. On September 19 (oddly, my father’s death date), I went back to the surgeon who found the cancer and this time after I awoke from the anesthesia said that she took no tissue samples because there was nothing there to take. Exactly two weeks later, the radiation oncologist said in our virtual appointment that the MRI scan taken a week earlier was perfectly clear, so she would see me a year from then for another scan. The surgeon will do a check every three months, at least for the first year. To be honest, it didn’t sink in quickly. The early diagnosis which turned out to be a false/negative made it harder to believe. What was quickly and easily believed is that the huge number of prayers for my healing by my spiritual family all over the world made all the difference. I will never be able to thank them enough. There are no words…
We all have the basic human needs of being accepted; thus we fear rejection. We want to be approved, to be included, to be considered important, hopefully even essential to those with whom we associate. Do you not think that servanthood will gain these rewards, and far more? We don’t serve to be served in return or give in order to be given to, for serving is its own reward. It is more blessed to give than to receive. Considering others more important than ourselves brings benefits far beyond what we might expect. Jesus changed the world by being the world’s greatest servant. You can change your world by being the best servant you can be, with God through the Holy Spirit enabling you to keep growing in this capacity.
Selfishness is natural; selflessness is unnatural. Yet, as with most things, what comes natural is of the world and what takes genuine effort and self-denial is of God. Trust him that his way, the Via Dolorosa, is the path to glory. It will change you, and better, it will change others. Influence is about helping others rather than impressing others, which makes true leadership servanthood, from beginning to end. Trust Jesus enough to trust that fundamental truth.
The greatest influence you can possibly have on another’s life is helping them become disciples of Jesus. If first becoming a Christian, coming into a saved relationship with God through Christ, is our first priority, guess what? We should feel compelled to see that as a starting place in being a servant to others, helping them find that same saved relationship. Although I didn’t attend the recent Summit Conference in Orlando, I did watch a lot of it virtually. The very first thing I watched addressed the topic of raising up the next generation.
All three presenters came at the subject in somewhat different, but complementary ways. Kevin Miller spoke about campus ministry and what they were doing in Boston. He didn’t speak about what they ought to be doing; he spoke about what they were doing and had been doing recently. He had two impressive younger generation disciples speak as a part of his presentation. It was all so convicting. It reminded me of why I was attracted to this family of churches in the first place. I saw in action the majority of the membership having a determination to imitate the mission of Jesus, “to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10). As we seek to influence and serve others in every way possible in imitation of Jesus, let’s not forget what our first priority with others should always be – helping them know Jesus.
The Fruits of Servanthood 3 (Awareness Awakened)
Servanthood brings an increased awareness of many types. The awareness of the situations others face and their subsequent needs is one. The awareness of our own nature, complete with its weaknesses and sins is another. It has been pointed out that awareness in Western culture is highly individualistic whereas in Eastern culture, it is more of a group awareness. Western culture has spawned the “me” generation concept. When it is all about me, selfishness in its many forms chokes out servanthood. Even our choice of “causes” to get involved in often carries a self-focus with it, for our choices may be based mainly on what makes us feel good about ourselves. Thus, involvement in causes doesn’t necessarily equate with being servants. This is why being self-aware spiritually is absolutely essential.
True servants are increasingly aware of their own shortcomings and sins. While in the hospital, becoming more and more aware of God’s supreme nature being that of servanthood, I was also becoming more and more aware of my lack of a servant spirit. During one of my sleepless nights, I had a thought jump into my mind seemingly out of nowhere. It involved me and my wife and my electronic preferences, of phones in particular. The story has a necessary back-story to fully appreciate what I am about to describe.
I officially decided to become computerized in 1992. I was writing quite a lot even back then without a computer. I had an assistant whose tasks included typing out my hand-written material. He kept telling me that writing on a computer was fundamentally important, not just in terms of saving both of us time, but in terms of what he described as something like thinking through your fingers. He finally convinced me to give up my computer phobia and buy a computer.
At that time, I knew just enough about computers to know that there were two basic types: Macintosh and Windows. I had no idea what the differences were, and which might be best for me, so I started asking advice of my computer using friends. One thing became obvious quickly. The Apple folks were not only sold on their products but sold to the point of sounding arrogant and even cultish. Purely because of that response, I decided to go with a Windows based computer. I reasoned that I had enough pride already and didn’t need to join the Apple cult to worsen it. Seriously, that was the true back-story behind my initial choice.
The problem I didn’t see coming or see once it came was that in my resistance to all things Apple, I had developed the same problem in reverse. I became a Windows snob, often deriding Apple products. Then came smartphones, with Apple being the leading innovator in this new field. I became very thankful very quickly when Android phones made their appearance. I didn’t have to use an iPhone! Yea! I had a choice and I made it. Since that first Android phone, I have owned many, and I was always quick to tell my iPhone friends that Android was the superior system.
Now we come to the real issue that God brought to my attention while in a hospital bed contemplating death and him and all points in-between. My wife is not technology oriented and initially showed no interest in smartphones, Apple or Android. Phones were used to make phone calls. End of story—until the grandchildren had smartphones and wanted to exchange texts with their grandmother. Knowing that the grandchildren had iPhones and that they were supposedly more user friendly, I bought my wife one of those dreaded iPhones. That initial purchase was nearly a decade ago.
Since that time, I have been impatient and unhelpful with Theresa in the use of her phone. I didn’t want to figure out anything about it, meaning that I wasn’t willing to serve her by learning how it functioned. Adding insult to injury, I often spoke disparagingly of her phone when she was having some problem with it. I. Was. Not. A. Servant! Not only did I fail to serve, but I was impatient and critical when she needed help with her phone. And this attitude and treatment was aimed at the most wonderful wife in the world, the one whom I love and cherish! What a servant husband would have done is switch to an iPhone when his wife first got one in order to help her with the unavoidable learning curve involved.
This whole story flooded my mind and heart in a flash, all at once, on that fateful night in the hospital. The next day, I shared the story not only with Theresa, but with my son’s whole family. They knew my attitudes and had heard my complaints and sarcasm directed at iPhones, and they all needed to hear me repent. Then they needed to see my repentance in action. I asked Joy to order two new iPhones, the latest and greatest of them, which she did. Now my wife and I both have iPhone 13 Pro Max phones. I can and do help her with her phone. I should have done this long ago—and would have if I had been imitating the God whom I love. He didn’t just change something owned to serve us; he changed himself into a human being and died for us—unimaginable servanthood!
I remember an old song, very popular in its day, “You Always Hurt the One You Love.” The first few phrases are heart-breaking, but true. Why do we hurt the ones we love? They are about the only ones who love us enough to put up with it. Sad thought, that. I wish that my little phone story was the only such memory I have about ways I have hurt my wife, failing to be the servant that God has called me to be. I imagine that this one story is enough to get the wheels of your memory turning, and hopefully enough to help you repent also. In my case, Theresa had a hard time believing that I was serious about really repenting. It took her seeing my tears of repentance to grasp how deeply grieved I was over my sins of selfishness and pride.
My hospital insights about the nature of God led to my insights about the nature of Gordon—and to repentance. I’m just so grateful to God for revealing both types of insights to me during my time of sitting on the brink of eternity with him. I needed to be there, and his servant heart was moved to take me there. Spiritual insights are found in the package of God’s nature that we humans can never fully open, but try we must, and try with fervor, determination and consistency. Let’s do it!
Curiosity being what it is, some of you are wondering how I am faring with my new iPhone. I still prefer Android for some technical reasons, but the iPhone is fine. A bit too heavy, but fine. Just so you know, I also bought an Apple computer years ago and used it daily and exclusively for six months. It was a good computer, but not as suited to my particular uses as is a PC. But no more disparaging talking about brands of computers or phones. They are all good and simply matters of preference, just like brands of a myriad of other products. My iPhone and I are doing well in developing our relationship, as my wife and I continue to do in deepening ours (after 58 years of marriage). Repentance is sweet and an integral part of servanthood for us humans!
The Fruits of Servanthood 2 — A Righteous Life
The effects of sin in our lives are always bad and often disastrous. I didn’t believe that when I was young. I was taught it but I hadn’t seen enough evidence yet to buy in to it. I had friends and relatives who were doing things that I knew were supposed to be wrong, but it seemed that they were getting by with it. I couldn’t yet see the consequences. That phase didn’t last too long. Those my age started getting married without God’s principles as a guide. Their lives started unraveling in time, and when their children reached adulthood, the picture came into sharper focus. Underneath the smiles and Facebook stories, the rigid rod of reality told the true tale. The last line of Fantine’s song, “I Dreamed a Dream,” in the famous musical, “Les Miserables,” tells the tale of many whose lives are not centered on God. “Life has killed the dream I dreamed.” That is the present condition of many in our society, leading to frustration and anger which can stay pent-up for only so long. It is being acted upon in many, many horrific ways as I write these words. And without Christ in lives, it will get worse.
Our nation provides a good example of how it gets worse. I remember a conversation with an older friend in Boston years ago who had grown up there. He recalled being in elementary school when the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred. He said that once they got the news, their teacher led the whole class in Bible reading and prayer for the rest of the school day. I remember reading a historical novel about the early settlement of the East Coast of the US, and in very challenging times, it wasn’t unusual for the mayor of Boston to call for a fast of even several days to cry out to God for help meeting those challenges. Now we have drifted so far away from the Bible as an accepted standard that we shouldn’t be surprised at the consequences of unrighteousness permeating our society. The kingdom of self and self-serving has taken the place of biblical servanthood demonstrated and called for by Jesus.
If sin is the disease, servanthood is the cure. Those focused on serving are already immersed in self-denial. Sin is not nearly the temptation that it is to people who are mainly focused on self or even on merely avoiding sin, and therein lies the failure of the religion of my youth. It was all about avoiding sin, not serving others in the name of Christ. Most who call themselves Christians live about the same as their neighbors, except they avoid outward sins. They are just about as self-centered and materialistic as everyone else. Self-denial is thus defined very narrowly indeed. It is about what not to do rather than being focused on what Jesus did and still would do—and wants to do in and through you. Do you see the difference?
Every follower of Jesus has the responsibility of serving. It is not a burden but a blessing, an opportunity, a privilege. Some followers of his also have the special gift of serving (Romans 12:7). Those with the gift serve more gracefully and naturally than the rest of us, and in doing so they provide an example to help the rest of us grow in that area. My wife, Theresa, has this gift in abundance. She lives to serve. She can’t help serving. She is compelled. It doesn’t matter who we are with or where we are, her gift will come out. It is pretty amazing to watch and sometimes a bit embarrassing for me to watch. She will take over situations involving total strangers as she tries to serve them. In a restaurant during pre-Covid days, she would be arranging chairs and tables and holding babies and doing whatever she thought would help them have the best time. They seemed to sense her gift and were quite relaxed about it all, appearing to view her as a part of their family on a temporary basis. As I said, it’s amazing to watch.
Recently, as we began recording the first episodes of this podcast series, I talked to Theresa about how I wanted things to function. I explained that this wasn’t us entertaining fellow disciples or focusing on hospitality. It was business and we had to stay both quiet and focused. So, let’s just put bottled water in the refrigerator and inform them to serve themselves as needed. She listened very attentively and seemed like she understood exactly what I was saying and why, and was agreeing to follow the guidelines I mentioned. But as Rick and I were setting up all of the equipment prior to the arrival of the guests who were to be in the podcast, I glanced over at our dining room table. Of course there were bottles of water there, along with pumpkin bread, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and a huge bowl of fruit salad and the sauce to top it with. In earlier years, that might have led to an argument, but I didn’t say anything negative to her. She can’t help it. She has the gift of service. Servanthood should have been her middle name!
Theresa is, not surprisingly, one of the most spiritual people I know. When we are focused on serving others, we are not focused on self and thus sin’s temptations have much less effect on us. Sometimes when we are praying together and confess our sins, I find myself wishing that all I had to confess was what she did. I have “big boy” sins; she has “little girl” sins—all because she is a far better servant than I am. As I was thinking about this servanthood concept recently, it occurred to me that I should ask her a question that I’m not sure I have asked her directly before.
I understand the challenges of male lust, which I have shared about honestly in describing my own battles, something that any honest man will admit is a problem. But I wondered what the challenge of that sin might look like for her. The results of a fairly in-depth discussion were about as expected. She just doesn’t struggle with it, and I believe her because I know her. Servants focus on the needs of others, not the bodies of others. Jesus was around women all of the time, women who adored him, and yet he never lusted once. Regarding my wife, we are talking about a woman who loves the sexual part of our marriage. Sex has been a big part of our marriage but her having lust for other men has not. The ramifications of being a servant are wide and deep. Spiritual greatness and servanthood are inseparably connected and the more you think about it, the more you understand why.
The Fruits of Servanthood 1 — An Abundant Life
Jesus did come to give us life to the full, the abundant life (John 10:10). That is his goal as the greatest servant of all. Satan will try to convince us otherwise, but don’t be fooled. God loves us and wants us to be full of joy. If you really believe that to be his goal, you will read the Bible in a way that expects to find that truth. For example, look at this oft-quoted passage: “Then he said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it’” (Luke 9:23-24). To follow Jesus, we must practice self-denial, daily cross-bearing and loss of life. Wow – sound exciting? Without understanding the servanthood of Jesus, these challenges sound demanding and unreasonable. But if you accept that Jesus wants the absolute best for you, the passage reads quite differently.
Let’s start with self-denial. It may sound too demanding, but is it? Stop and think about what your selfish self leads to when it is in control. Just about everything bad. Selfishness is a malady that destroys happiness and relationships and a bunch more. Self-centered people are miserable and they make those around them miserable (if taken seriously). I had two grandmothers who were polar opposites. One was focused on herself, her needs and her problems. The other was always focused on others and their needs. The first was negative and often miserable. The second was positive and always happy. You will never convince me that self-denial is a bad thing. Nor is it a burdensome thing. It frees you up to become more like God and the more you are like him, the happier you will be.
What about taking up a daily cross – it that a negative? Is that a heavy burden? For starters, look at Matthew 11:28-30. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Jesus doesn’t say that his burden isn’t a part of our lives; he just says that it is a good part, a part that brings rest to our souls. Compared to the burden of selfishness and sin, it is light indeed.
Another very relevant passage in this discussion is Galatians 2:20. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Imagine a life controlled by Christ and no longer controlled by the sinful self. He loves us and has proved it by sacrificing himself for us. The Servant of servants is now living in us and leading us. There have been a number of times in my life when I felt like I was a third party watching on, watching myself do things that were pretty amazing. On those occasions, it was so obvious that Jesus was in control, working in me and through me. The feeling I have when this application of Galatians 2:20 becomes reality is simply euphoria. What could be better than being as one with him? Nothing that I have ever found. To be used by God and sense his presence as you are being used has no equal.
The Bible is full of passages that sound demanding but are quite the opposite in their effect. “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’” (Acts 20:35). “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38). “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:3-5). The passage goes on to describe Jesus as a servant, with the end result of him being exalted to the highest place (verse 9). If servanthood is our highest calling, you can be sure that it will carry the highest reward possible. It did for Jesus, and it will for you and me.
I have been amazed at all the ways that Luke 6:38 has been true in my life. You simply cannot outgive God. I think back to a time when I didn’t go to church often as a young married man and didn’t want to go when I did. I just went to get my new wife off my back! A number of surprising statements were made in sermons by the preacher who eventually became the vessel God used to turn my life around spiritually in ways that I could never have imagined. One of them was when he was preaching about giving to the church financially, a tithe no less, and quoted Matthew 6:21. This verse says simply that where our treasure is our hearts will be also.
He made the point that most people look at this passage backwards, thinking it says that where are hearts are, our treasure will follow. Of course, there is truth to that also. But he said that if we put our treasure in spiritual things, applying it to church contributions, our hearts will follow. In other words, giving our money will change our hearts. I thought this was ridiculous, to be candid, but I decided to start doing what he recommended to just test out one of the many spiritual things he was stating as absolute truths. Even with a questionable attitude, we started tithing and have never stopped. He was right. Rather, the Bible was right. Luke 6 is also right. I have never in those nearly sixty years since been able to outgive God, and I have more real-life examples to illustrate that fact than I have time to describe. Amazing! Simply amazing!
Once I understand intellectually that the supreme description of Jesus is that of a servant, I have to clear out any hurdles that keep me from emotionally accepting this marvelous truth. Since God’s “harshness” in the OT has been one of my greatest hurdles to clear, let’s just start here. What did God have to work with when he brought the Israelites out of four hundred years of bondage? It wasn’t spirituality. They had long forgotten the God known by their ancient ancestors like Abraham and Joseph. They were idolators as were their captors and owners. Just how difficult would it be to deal with several million people in that condition? Just imagine taking a million people out of some of the countries today which are immersed in the most extreme form of Muslimism with the intent of leading them into living by true Christian principles. Can you not picture the absolute necessity of dealing with many of them in ways that uninformed observers might call harsh?
Illustrations like that help me understand that whatever God did in OT times was necessary for the good of the majority as history unfolded. God was still a servant seeking the best for his people, but those people forced him to do things that he hated doing. Even as God meted out judgment, Ezekiel describes his heart. “Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’” (Ezekiel 33:11) God is literally begging them to repent and live, but their failure to repent left him no choice.
The capacity for evil in the human heart is difficult to fully grasp. This must be kept in mind as you wrestle with what seems to be amazingly harsh discipline in that OT setting. Jeremiah 17 describes the blessings of the ones who trust in God and put their confidence in him, but also describes the plight of those who do not. What determines the difference? The heart. “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? 10 I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve” (Jeremiah 17:9-10).
I’ve always been drawn to a comment by Spock in the old Star Trek series: “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” When God punished individuals in the OT period, at least three things have to be kept in mind. One, they deserved it. God is just and the punishment he dished out fit the sin. Two, those punished set an example to hopefully prohibit others from following their sinful behavior. Many passages in both OT and NT make this point. “Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:11). 1 Corinthians 10 provides a shockingly specific example of such disobedience and its consequences, and also assures us that Christ was right in the middle of it all. Thankfully, the section ends by assuring us that God can deliver us from temptations that lead to such consequences if we will but trust and follow him. Read it carefully, noting the symbolism involved between this OT setting and our NT setting. Being in the church as a baptized, communing member does not guarantee our salvation, that’s for sure.
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. 6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” 8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9 We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10 And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.
11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
Many of such examples came at times of transition when keeping people on the right path was fundamentally important for their future. One such time was when the church was very young and two people set a bad example that led to them becoming another type of example for both the church and the community. Read the account of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-11. The last verse shows the effectiveness of God taking their lives. “Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.” Verses 13-14 make the point even clearer. “No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.”
Three, God directly killing the disobedient or them being killed via the laws of capital punishment didn’t necessarily mean that they were lost spiritually. I cannot imagine that Uzzah touching the ark to steady it, through ignorance of the Law’s stipulations for carrying the ark, was thereby condemned spiritually. The accounts of this unfortunate situation are found in both 2 Samuel 6 and 1 Chronicles 13. Both accounts should be read to get the complete picture. Those being put to death through capital punishment were admonished to repent before being killed. It is not that much different today in America, as clergymen are made available for those on death row. Repentance doesn’t always remove consequences of our sins, but it can remove the sins in God’s mercy.
I understand that the above paragraph contains my opinion on the matter. However, that opinion doesn’t come simply from my sense of what should be true. Moses gives us an example that clearly illustrates the point I have made. He was God’s man and God’s hero, and yet he sinned grievously enough that God refused to let him go into the promised land. The description of his sin leaves us questioning the severity of the punishment, but since God is perfect, whatever was involved in this sin was sufficient to warrant the punishment. Was Moses lost spiritually for this sin? Of course not! He and Elijah appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew 17. God is just but he is merciful. James 2:13 says that mercy triumphs over judgment. God shows mercy in every way possible under the umbrella of justice. Servanthood in action leads to life answers to life questions. Thus, let’s ask and answer this question: What are the fruits of servanthood? Coming in the next episode!
Implications of Matthew 20
Let’s go back to the text of Matthew 20:25-28 and ask of it some questions that are begging to be asked. Why did Jesus begin with a description of worldly leadership? That was obviously where the apostles were conceptually. Ten of them were indignant toward James and John. Why? Because the two were being worldly in their thinking and the ten wanted to see them get help? No, not at all. They were envious that the two beat them to the punch in seeking what they perceived to be the ultimate leadership positions as men would see them. Plus, the two had their mother to advocate for them in their request. Position, not servanthood, was the foundation of their thinking and desires regarding leadership. Of course, we would never be like that, would we?
I look with embarrassment back to a time when our movement was characterized not simply by worldly leadership concepts, but by military ones. I describe this sad period in Chapter 4 on leadership styles in my book, “Dynamic Leadership,” under the subheading, “The Military Model.” I include there nineteen evidences of the military model, all suggested by leaders in several different churches. The suggestions came in rapid-fire order; it didn’t take much time to figure it out. Sadly, most of us bought in to accepting parts of the model, although some were better or worse than others. But no one from our earlier days can deny that our leadership was full of worldly concepts and practices.
Nor do I think that many today would deny that we have vestiges of worldly leadership left in our churches right now. The most concerning one is not manner, as in “harsh,” but manner of decision-making, as in lacking true collaborative teamwork. Thankfully, we also have many Golden Rule type leaders. But the servanthood of which Jesus spoke has not dominated, in my opinion, which means that we still don’t understand the basic nature of God as the Servant of servants.
Another question that arises from these verses is how does Jesus fit in? He was obviously correcting the views of the apostles and calling them to both servanthood and even slavehood in their views of leadership. But he used himself as the ultimate example. He came into the world as a servant and giving his life up on the cross could demonstrate slavehood. Two passages come to mind.
John 15:13
13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Romans 5:6-8
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Dying for a friend is servanthood. Dying for our enemies could be called slavehood. Jesus is the greatest example of both to ever walk the earth, but as old Jim said, Jesus didn’t become a servant or slave by virtue of becoming a man. His nature is that and always was. In an article I wrote entitled, “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” I describe the plan of the cross as being in the mind of God before he created Adam and Eve. He knew what introducing creatures of choice into the world was going to cost him. He had already filled out the price tag before the merchandise existed. If that doesn’t define servanthood, I don’t know what would. Always and forever, he does what is best for us, whether we can understand it at the time or not. Some of my greatest gains have come though the times of greatest pain, and my recent stay in the hospital marks the highlight of this principle. I wrote three health updates on Facebook, and this is the last paragraph of the final one.
The normal reaction to hearing these details goes something like this: “Goodness, that must have been tough, but I’m so happy you made it through!” That is an appropriate response, to be sure, but mine is different. Yes, it was very challenging and sometimes very scary, but it was the greatest spiritual experience of my life—by far. The spiritual insights I gained were simply marvelous. I knew even in the worst days that if I survived, I would need to start a YouTube channel and share through some form of podcasts what God had taught me. I am working on getting that set up now. If I could skip the illness episode but also miss the spiritual insights, would I choose that? I don’t think so. As crazy as it may sound, I believe I would go through it all again (but only with the help of your prayers) to learn what I learned and to connect to God the way I have. I love and appreciate you more than you imagine. Stay tuned! I will resume my radiation treatments Monday, but only have about 9-10 remaining. No more chemo! Please keep me in your prayers that all of the cancer will be eradicated. God bless you!
Finally, if the greatest quality of a follower of Christ is servanthood, especially leaders, it has to be the greatest quality with which to define Christ himself. It simply has to be; it must be; it cannot be otherwise. Certainly God is light and love and many other things, but his overriding supreme quality is servanthood to the nth degree with no limitations or boundaries—up to and including death for his enemies. If that is what I am to imitate, especially if I am a leader, it changes so much about how we see him, ourselves, our roles and our relationship with him. God’s greatest description is servant.
