The Power of Servanthood - Part 7
When God wants a revival, He sends a man or a woman out - a person whom He can promote and give authority to rule. John the Baptist was an example of one such man sent out by God to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah - John 1:6. You have to be someone that God can use to change the world. In Ephesians 3:18, Paul prayed that we "may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height" of God's love which surpasses knowledge of men. If you love God, you will want to serve Him. Jesus loves us and He serves us to the very end.
Servanthood has to do with love and it moves in 4 directions:
1. Depth
2. Height
3. Width
4. Length
1. Depth
The deeper you love God, the more you want to walk with God and the more you want to serve Him. You are created for God. Your talents and abilities are meant for Him, to do His will. Are you serving God right now to expand His kingdom and build His house? There is only one program that Jesus is doing - to grow the kingdom of God. I believe that if I build the house of God, God will build my house whether it is in business, church ministry, career, and etc. King David said in Psalm that a day in the house of God is like being with God for a thousand years.
2. Height
We are to serve the leaders God placed above us. Elisha was known as a pourer and washer of his master's hands (2 Kings 3:11). The people were looking for a new prophet after the death of Elijah. In the ancient times, the people eat with their hands. Before they eat, the servant will come and pour water on their hands before eating. Elijah must be a wealthy man for he has a servant who served him. Elisha was not ashamed to be a servant. He qualified himself twice more powerful than Elijah because of his servant heart.
Moses served as another example for us to follow. Moses and the Israelites have to battle against their enemies in one of the battles. Moses was an old man when he had to lead the people of Egypt. During one of the battles, he has to lift up his hands and pray while the battle was ongoing. When he lifted up his hands, the Israelites would win and advance against their enemies. But when he dropped his hands, the Israelites would loose. Lifting up of hands means spiritual action and surrender in obedience to God and in worship. Moses understood this. With him were Aaron and Hur, who held up Moses' hands when he was tired. But they were doing more than that. Aaron and Hur were praying alongside with Moses to support him. They supported Moses and prayed through with him until the victory was won. Are you praying for your leader? Are you standing beside your leader? Are you willing to take the bullet and die for your leader?
Moses has a personal assistant who stood by him all the time. That personal assistant is Joshua - Exodus 33:11. While the Lord was speaking to Moses in the tent faced to faced, Joshua was waiting outside patiently. Joshua was characterized as a servant. He served Moses while his master was serving God. Joshua was outside waiting for Moses, praying and waiting for the anointing to flow over from Moses to him. When you pray with your pastor overnight as he is praying overnight, you are encouraging him. When you are hungry for the word of God and want to hear more from your pastor, you are encouraging him in his preaching. In all these, the congregation is serving the pastor.
Jesus was supporting John in his preaching too. John was in a ministry out in the wilderness, eating locust and honey for refreshments. Who wants to be in the desert like John? As John was preaching about the coming of the Messiah and telling the people to repent from their sins, Jesus was sitting in front listening to John and waiting for the move of God. John's ministry was water baptism and repentance of sins. Jesus doesn't need to be baptized or to repent from any sins. But He was serving John by willing to let John baptized Him. Beloved, do not be critical of revival and other churches that you do not know. You can loose your cutting edge by being critical of other people.
We need a prophet in our life that can be our selling edge to maintain our cutting edge by guiding us in the truth. Be very careful when rebuking and correcting an elder in the church. God said not to rebuke the leaders that God has put in the church. It is not your job to criticize them unless you are doing as much as they are. God is watching and He will deal with the wrongs. In the Bible, it is the church's leaders who wrote the letters to straighten out the people and not the other way round. Authority flows from the top down. God is watching if you think no one is watching you when you criticize the church leader, ministry and any servant of God. We all live on borrowed authority. We get authority from whom God placed above us. Ultimately, the authority flows down from God above.
The kingdom of God is a kingdom of relationships. You can preach the same sermon and one person will be touched by the sermon while another will be criticizing away. What does it mean to serve under somebody? It means you do as you are told. When you do as you are told, it means you are under his covering. It does not mean that you go to a church, listen to a pastor sermon and you think you come under a covering. You are not under the church or the pastor's covering unless you do exactly as you are told by the church or the pastor.
3. Width
We are to serve one another - Matthew 20:28. There are Christians who say "I am not here to serve you but to serve God". And there are others who say "I will submit to no one but only to God". This is huge ego. This is pride. This is rebellion. This is religious crap. Jesus said, "I come to serve, to help other people". Jesus can come and act likes a slob and demand His way around but He didn't. He is here to serve. The church is not perfect. But if Jesus can come to serve us, can we not serve one another? Christianity is not a religion, not a duty to attend church on Sunday. It is about a relationship, a relationship between God and you. Are you serving someone today? We serve a God who watches the attitudes of our hearts. You can tell whether you are becoming a servant by how you act when people treat you like one as Gordon McDonald said. You are not bothered and still continue to serve God even if you are treated like a servant by others. This is the true heart of a servant who knows his true identity and does not rely on the praises of men.
4. Length
We are to serve the world. The world means all the non-believers. Daniel has the ability to serve in the king's palace, the very king who sent his people to exile - Daniel 1:4. Joseph served Potiphar, the prison warden and the pharaoh. They are all ungodly people. St Francis of Assisi says "preach the gospel to the assembly constantly and if necessary use your mouth". Evangelism is about serving people, not selling or preaching the Gospel. We are not selling a product. Your willingness to serve even if the tasks are hard and demeaning, you will be first in the kingdom of God today.
Servanthood is not what you say but what you do. Do you do things well? Do you do your best? Are you faithful to pay back your loans and debts? Do you support your leader? God watches the attitudes of your heart. Let's serve God by being passionate to Him and serving people. This is true servanthood.
Related Tags: christian, mcdonald, paul, messiah, david, elijah, servanthood, psalm, sermon, elisha, gordon, john the baptist
A person who does great commandment by loving God and loving people, great commission by doing mission and the cultural mandate by engaging the market place to God. - Sermon Alive
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