Servanthood: Humility In Action

/in

“‘Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave'”(Matthew 20:26-27).
In God’s sight, greatness is marked by a humble, servant’s heart.
Bible commentator R.C.H. Lenski once wrote that God’s “great men are not sitting on top of lesser men, but bearing lesser men on their backs.” Jesus would have agreed with Lenski’s observation, but He did not see it as wrong to desire greater usefulness to God. Those standards of usefulness, however, are much more demanding than any worldly ideals for self-serving, domineering leadership. For example, Paul lists for us the high standards God has for church overseers (1 Tim. 3:1-7). God considers men great who are among those willing to be servants.
In Matthew 20:26-27, Jesus was speaking of genuine servanthood, not the “public servant” who merely uses his position to gain power and personal prestige. The original Greek word for “servant” referred to a person who did menial labor and was the lowest level of hired help. Jesus could have used a more noble word to denote obedient discipleship, but He picked this one (from which we get deacon) because it best described the selfless humility of one who served.
But in verse 27, Jesus intensifies His description of God’s way to greatness. He tells us if we want to be great in His kingdom, we must be willing to be slaves. Whereas servants had some personal freedom, slaves were owned by their masters and could go only where their masters allowed and do only what their masters wanted. The application for us as believers is that “whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s” (Rom. 14:8).
If you desire real spiritual greatness, you will be willing to work in the hard place, the lonely place, the place where you’re not appreciated. You’ll be willing to strive for excellence without becoming proud, and to endure suffering without getting into self-pity. It is to these godly attitudes and more that Christ will say, “Well done, good and faithful slave . . . enter into the joy of your master” (Matt. 25:21).

Ignorance Guarantees Ungodliness

/in

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.” (2 Peter 1:3)
I am amazed at the power that the Bible gives to knowledge.
Consider 2 Peter 1:3: “[God’s] divine power has granted . . . all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.”
Literally, all the power available from God to live and be godly comes through knowledge! Amazing! What a premium we should put on doctrine and instruction in the Scriptures! Life and godliness are at stake.
Not that knowing guarantees godliness. It doesn’t. But it seems that ignorance guarantees ungodliness. Because, Peter says, the divine power that leads to godliness is given through the knowledge of God.
Here are three implications, a warning, and a promise.

  1. Read! Read! Read! But beware of wasting your time on theological foam and suds. Read rich doctrinal books about the one “who called [you] to his own glory and excellence.”

  2. Ponder! Ponder! Slow down. Take time to think about the Bible. Ask questions. Keep a journal. Let yourself be humbly troubled by puzzling things. The deepest insights come from trying to see the unifying root of two apparently antagonistic branches.

  3. Discuss. Discuss. Be a part of a small group that cares passionately about the truth. Not a group that just likes to talk and raise problems. But a group that believes there are biblical answers to biblical problems.

Warning: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6).”They have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge” (Romans 10:2).
Promise: “They shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more” (Hebrews 8:11 – 12). (John Piper)

Ministry and The Fear of Man

/in

“Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 1:8)
A great obstacle to serving the Lord, especially among the young, is the fear of rejection and opposition.
All kinds of thoughts enter the mind about how some people might not like the way I do it. People might disagree or be offended. I might make a mistake and get criticized.
The fear of man is a great hindrance to ministry.
So God says, Don’t fear, because I will be with you and I will deliver you. God’s presence and approval is more valuable than all the accolades of men. And God says that in and through all your troubles, I will deliver you. You will triumph in the end. You will be more than a conqueror.
And the same thing is promised to all of us in Christ Jesus today:
“[God] has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:5–6)
“If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)
So God said to Jeremiah, and God says to younger people today whom he is calling to serve him, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’” (Jeremiah 1:7). Why?
Because your life is rooted in the unshakable, sovereign purposes of God. You have been chosen and consecrated and formed and appointed for a great purpose.
Because God’s authority, not your own, is behind your going and your speaking.
And because God himself will be with you to deliver you in all your trials.

Better Than Everest

/in

“We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
If you live inside this massive promise, your life is more solid and stable than Mount Everest.
Nothing can blow you over when you are inside the walls of Romans 8:28. Outside Romans 8:28, all is confusion and anxiety and fear and uncertainty. Outside this promise of God’s all-encompassing future grace, there are straw houses of drugs and pornography and dozens of futile diversions. There are slat walls and tin roofs of fragile investment strategies and fleeting insurance coverage and trivial retirement plans. There are cardboard fortifications of deadbolt locks and alarm systems and anti-ballistic missiles. Outside are a thousand substitutes for Romans 8:28.
Once you walk through the door of love into the massive, unshakable structure of Romans 8:28, everything changes. There come into your life stability and depth and freedom. You simply can’t be blown over anymore. The confidence that a sovereign God governs for your good all the pain and all the pleasure that you will ever experience is an incomparable refuge and security and hope and power in your life.
When God’s people really live by the future grace of Romans 8:28 — from measles to the mortuary — they are the freest and strongest and most generous people in the world.
Their light shines and people give glory to their Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).

As Sure As His Son

/in

“He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32)
God strips every pain of destructive power. You must believe this or you will not thrive, or perhaps even survive as a Christian, in the pressures and temptations of modern life.
There is so much pain, so many setbacks and discouragements, so many controversies and pressures. I do not know where I would turn if I did not believe that almighty God is taking every setback and every discouragement and every controversy and every pressure and every pain, and stripping it of its destructive power, and making it work for the enlargement of my joy in God.
The world is ours. Life is ours. Death is ours. God reigns so supremely on behalf of his elect that everything which faces us in a lifetime of obedience and ministry will be subdued by the mighty hand of God and made the servant of our holiness and our everlasting joy in God.
If God is for us, and if God is God, then it is true that nothing can succeed against us. He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all will infallibly and freely with him give us all things — all things — the world, life, death, and God himself.
Romans 8:32 is a precious friend. The promise of God’s future grace is overwhelming. But all-important is the foundation. Here is a place to stand against all obstacles. God did not spare his own Son! How much more, then, will he spare no effort to give me all that Christ died to purchase — all things, all good?
It is as sure as the certainty that he loved his Son!