The Heart of a Servant

Slavery is rampant in this world. Slavery didn't end just because we outlawed it here in this country. Several years ago, when I took a trip to Ghana and Africa, one of the places that we visited on that trip was the slave castles. In Ghana, these were the castles where the Europeans would load the slaves on the ships.

It was ingenious the way they did it. They made it in such a way that a slave had no way of escaping. These were what would be called a slave castle. They would put them down in a dungeon area. They would open the door and there would be a ship right there. They would turn the door and close the door.

Many people don't think of slavery today, but slavery is very rampant in the world today. Modern-day slaves can be found laboring as servants or concubines in the Sudan, as child carpet slaves in India, or as cane cutters in Haiti or southern Pakistan. These are just a few places where slave trade is known and is thriving. According to the Anti-Slavery International, the world's oldest human rights organization, there are currently over 20 million people in slavery. Where does this slavery take place and who are the faces behind this? Well, you find that slavery, a lot of it takes place in Africa, the same place it has been for centuries.

The slave trade in Africa was officially banned in the early 1880s, but forced slavery continues to be practiced, especially in West and Central Africa. UNICEF estimates that 200,000 children, not adults, just children, from this region are sold into slavery every year. Many of these children are from benign in Togo.

They're sold as domestics, into agriculture, sex industries of wealthier, neighboring countries such as Nigeria and Gabon. This is a problem around the world. You'll find that especially the sex industry is something where young ladies are snatched, and boys also because of the perversion we see in the world and sold.

Many of us would normally rebel at the thought of slavery or servitude, any thought of it, and yet Isaiah was inspired by God to defend a prophecy concerning Jesus Christ. It is recorded in the New Testament in the book of Matthew. If you go to Matthew 12 and verse 18. It says, when Jesus knew it, and I'll back up to verse 15 here, Jesus knew it, he withdrew from there, and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all, and yet he warned them not to make him known, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Behold my servant whom I have chosen, verse 18, my beloved in whom my spirit, or my soul is well pleased, I will put my spirit upon him, God says, and he will declare justice to the Gentiles.

So Jesus Christ is referred to as the servant of God. Jesus Christ was the servant of God. He also came as a servant of mankind. When we talk about being a Christ-centered servant, you know, this is something that we've talked about over the years.

We need to realize that when the Bible talks about service, or servants, that you and I are to be a servant. This is what we are. It's more than just good works. A lot of times you find people talking about good works. And they say, well, yes, I serve. And, you know, people have soup kitchens, they do all kinds of things. And yet the Bible goes much deeper than that. The Bible is talking about how we ought to have good works.

People serve for all kinds of reasons, for all kinds of motives. In Matthew 20, verse 25-26, the Scripture that we're all familiar with, Jesus called them to Himself, talking about His disciples. And He stated, you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you. If you want to be great, let Him be your servant, and whoever desires to be first among you. If you want to be first, let Him be your slave. See, when the Bible talks about us being servants, that's talking about what we are, what our heart should be, what our minds should be, what our approach should be.

According to Vines, there are seven different words translated servant or bondservant in the Bible. Here we have the word, doulos. Doulos refers to a slave or a bondsman, a man of servile condition devoted to another, to the disregard of his own interests, a servant or an attendant. If you were a slave, let's go back 150 years, 200 years in this country.

You were a slave working on a plantation, picking cotton, planting cotton, whatever you did back at that time. You would know I'm a slave. You wouldn't say I'm a free man. No, you would say I'm a slave. You would understand that. Man who is a slave or a bondservant is a slave.

And when the Bible talks about our becoming great, it says that we have to take on the attitude of a servant. We have to become a slave, a bond slave. So you and I are a slave. That's what we are. At baptism, you entered into a covenant to be a servant of God forever. At that time, you said you would obey God, serve Him, and that He would be our Master, our ruler. And so Jesus Christ is our Lord and our Master. When you're baptized, you might remember what was asked.

You were asked, have you repented of your sins? You're supposed to say yes. And have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? You say yes. And then we say, as a result of your repentance of your sins, which are the transgression of God's holy and righteous law, and your acceptance of Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, your Lord and Master and soon-coming King.

So Jesus Christ becomes our Master at baptism. God becomes our Master. Now, in Titus chapter 1, let's notice Titus 1, verse 1, the Apostle Paul used this in several of his writings, but let's notice it here. He says, Paul, a bondservant of God and an Apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect. So Paul declared himself to be a bondservant of God. A servant is what Paul was, an Apostle was his job.

My job is to be a pastor. Your job, you know, you could be a nurse, be a doctor, a truck driver, a door hanger, whatever you might be. That's your job. That's your occupation. But all of us are to be slaves of God. We're to be those who obey God. If we have the mind of a servant, something will happen to us. There's a different way of thinking. There's a different perspective. There's a different outlook that a person has. We will be a different person. We will have a different outlook on life and others.

The mind and the heart in the Bible locates the very core of a person, of who we are, how we think. And that's the place from which we feel, we think, and that also determines our actions, determines what we will do. And so, if in our hearts, in our mind, we believe, and we know that if we truly want to be great in God's kingdom, that we have to become a servant, we have to become the slave of God, then it will determine our actions, it will determine how we treat others.

As strange as it seems, people can do religious duties, obligations, these can be performed from all the wrong motives, all the wrong approaches, and too often that happens. So, Jesus Christ clearly defines his standard for leadership, his standard for those who will guide and direct.

He expects us, he expects all of us, and he expects the shepherds of his flock to serve the sheep. He expects all of us to serve one another. And it is the mind of God that gives us that approach. In 1 Peter, let's notice 1 Peter 4, verse 11. In Scripture, you may not have even thought of 1 Peter 4, verse 11. It says, if anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. So if you speak, don't speak your own words, your own thoughts, your own ideas, but speak as the oracle, the utterances of God.

If anyone ministers, that means serve. The word minister means to serve. If anyone serves, let him do it with the ability which God supplies. So God has given all of us natural abilities, natural talents. God gives us gifts. That's something that we can go through in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12. God supplies those gifts. That, in all things, notice, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory, the dominion forever and ever.

Amen. So serve with the ability that God supplies us. Too often, we're down on ourselves. We say, I don't have any ability, I don't have any talent, I don't have any skills. Yes, you do. Everybody does. You have at least one talent. We know that. We all have gifts that God has given to us. And so we use those gifts.

God is the one who gave them to us. God is the one who supplies all of that. So, anything that we do, and if we do it in the spiritual realm, that it says here, let us do it with the ability which God supplies. So God will supply the ability, the power, the drive, the determination, what we need, so that God is glorified. Not us. God gets the credit. Not us. Whenever we want the credit, anytime we want to take the credit, we're doing it from the wrong motive. Our motives are wrong. We need to go back and reevaluate where we're coming from.

The credit goes to God. So, I want you to notice the attitude and approach that Jesus Christ had when He was on the earth. Philippians 2, Mr. Luca referred to this. In fact, this was probably the most frequently quoted scripture at our recent ministerial conference. Philippians 2, beginning in verse 1, says, Now that's hard to do because naturally, normally, humanly, we want to exalt ourselves, don't we? We have selfish ambitions, conceits, and yet, just the opposite of that is what God is looking for, is a lowliness of mine, bestaining others better. Let each of you look out, not only for His own interests, but also for the interests of others.

Paul here is beseeching, pleading with us, to shed the pride and ambition and become as Christ was, willing to serve all of the needs of humanity. God is calling us to have the right attitude, right character, so that we can take and have responsibilities in His kingdom.

This is the attitude of service that we must have. Now in verse 5, it says, Let this mind, see, going right on, it says we're to have the same mind, lowliness of mind, to seem others better. Let this mind be a new, which was also in Christ Jesus. So you and I are to have the mind of Christ dwelling in us, the heart of Christ. You and I must study the mind of Christ in order to let it be in us. We need to know how He thought, how He approached people, how He discerned things, what motivated Him to react in a certain way, why did He answer the Pharisees in a certain way, what motivated Him.

The study of a servant attitude or of service is to study the mind and to look at the attitude that Jesus Christ had. Actually, the term Christ-centered servant leadership, the Council, afterwards changed that. We came up with a new title to that, and it's Christ-like service was the new title that was given to what we're talking about here. Christ-centered, a lot of people didn't understand centered. What does the word centered mean? I know what the word means, but a lot of people said, what do you mean Christ-centered?

Christ-like, we all understand. It's not just something that's for leadership. We're all to be leaders, we know that. It is to encompass our service all the time. We are to all have Christ-like service.

Going on in verse 5, we find why Jesus Christ had this attitude. It says, And He made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant. So Jesus Christ came as a bondservant. Now, how did He do that? Well, it says, That's why He gave up His glory, He gave up the power of the spirit body, He came as a baby, He grew up as a child, matured into an adult, and finally died for our sins without ever sinning.

So He came in the likeness of men, and to come from the God-playing and live on the human level is a very humbling experience. Now, for us, eventually, we have lived on the human level, we will one day move up to the God level. So, you know, Christ did it the other way around. And as verse 8 says, So we find that this section of Scripture is probably the most insightful, the most powerful statement ever made about the heart and the mind of Jesus Christ. Because it reveals what He was willing to do, that He had it all, and He was willing to give that up, to come to this earth, to die for our sins, and He humbled Himself.

This was the act of one who became and was the perfect servant of humanity. Jesus Christ doesn't change. He still has this serving quality, and had it at that time. I want you to notice what James and Paulson and Brown has to say about this section. He used his equality with God as an opportunity, not for self-exaltation, but for self-abasement, or emptying Himself. To explain how He took the form of a servant, it says, by being made in the likeness of men.

How, then, are we expected to take the form of a servant? How do you and I become a servant? Jesus Christ emptied Himself of His divinity, came as God in the flesh. You and I do it by becoming like a child. You and I are to become childlike. Remember, every year when we have the blessing of little children? When we do that, we find that we become like a little child. Jesus Christ knew where He came from.

He had eternal life. He came from God. He knew what it was like to humble Himself and to become nothing. Now, Christians also know where we've come from. Where did you come from? You and I have come from sin and death. You and I, at one time, had the death penalty hanging over our heads.

Christ died so that that could be lifted. You and I come to the state of mind that Jesus Christ had, but from the opposite direction. We become as nothing through the process of repentance and baptism. You and I repent, we're baptized, we're given the Spirit of God, and through that Spirit of God-dwelling in us, our yielding to God, we begin to have the mind of Christ.

We begin to have a servant attitude and a servant approach. Remembering where we came from is a major factor in remaining humble. See, humility has to do with our relationship with God. It acknowledges that God is great, that God is supreme, and that we're nothing compared to God. And then, if you have the attitude where you consider others better than yourself, then you begin to build and develop a proper humility.

Jesus Christ was the greatest leader who ever lived on this earth. He set the perfect example before His disciples. And yet, at the same time, being the greatest servant in serving those around Him, His disciples, it did not in any way diminish the respect and all that people had for Him. It did not make Him a lesser person.

It actually increased His stature and their sight. When we see, or if we have the same mind, the same attitude that Christ had, it will not diminish us, but it will increase us in the minds of others. You and I have to have the mind of Christ and follow what James said in James 4.10. If you remember James 4.10, humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

If you and I want to be lifted up and exalted in the right way, it comes through humility. It does not come through exalting the self. You have to abase yourself to be exalted. That is just the opposite of what carnal human nature thinks. Carnally, the world, human beings, think that in order to be exalted, nobody is going to exalt you. You have to do it yourself. So, people try to exalt themselves. Yet, the Bible says, you abase yourself, God will exalt you.

The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. That He does not change. So, it's safe to assume, I think, based upon that, that His nature character, His methods of ruling, will remain the same in the future.

And when Jesus Christ returns to this earth to rule, He's going to rule, yes, with a rod of iron, meaning He has authority. But, He will also get down and help people. He will be there as a servant. He will be the perfect example to show us how to serve.

As Barclay, in his commentary, writes, the greatest characteristic of Jesus Christ's life was, or were, humility, obedience, and self-renunciation. He did not desire to nominate men, but only to serve them. He did not desire His own way, but only God's way. He did not desire to exalt Himself, but only to renounce all His glory for the sake of man. Again and again in the New Testament, He's sure that the only man who humbles himself shall be exalted.

And so that's, I think, abundantly clear. Now, let's go back to Mark, Mark 9, verse 33. There are three different occasions in the Gospels that we find that Jesus Christ had to deal with a problem with His disciples. And that problem was their debating with one another, who is the greatest? And, you know, they were constantly trying to say who was going to be the greatest. This is the first of those. Notice, verse 33, says, When He came to Capernaum, and when He was in the house, He asked them, What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?

But He kept silent, but they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. Now, you know, they knew. They didn't want to tell Christ. Well, we were arguing over who's going to be the most important, who's greatest.

And He sat down and called the twelve and said to them, If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all. Last of all, servant of all. Then He took a little child, sat him in the midst of them, and when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, Whoever receives one of these little children in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives not me, but Him who sent me. So, you find that this is the common problem that human beings have, and that is, they want to be important.

They want to be thought of as important. The Expositor Bible Commentary says about this section here in Mark, Instead of contemplating Jesus' passion and suffering, that it would involve for both Him and them, they had been occupied with the senseless argument about greatness. Since this type of question was the sort that was common among the Jews of that day, you see that the disciples were influenced by the culture of their time.

And you and I need to realize that the culture, this world, its standards, its way of life, influences us to a much greater degree than we like to admit. And here, they were reflecting what was going on in society. Barclay says, it was not that Jesus abolished ambition, rather, He re-created and sublimated ambition. For the ambition to rule, He substituted the ambition to serve. For the ambition to have things done for us, He substituted the ambition of doing things for others.

So the pivotal or beginning point when discussing this topic is always to understand what is humility. And so Christ took a child, lifted up the child, used the child as an example. Now, Christ used the child, but really what He was trying to teach them was that they needed to have a childlike attitude, but also that they needed to have His attitude. Now, in one sense, Christ's attitude was like a child, but in a child in what way? Matthew Henry says, little children have no great aims at great places or projects to raise themselves in the world.

They exercise, not themselves, in things too high for them. As a child, they're little in body, low in stature, so also we must be little in body and low in spirit, in our thoughts about ourselves. And you find that little children are not all that concerned about accumulating power or politics, you know, this type of things.

Little children were selected to be an example of Him and of His attitude. Why is it so hard for us to learn this lesson? Christ had to go over it three times with His disciples, because it's an integral part of human nature. Knowing that human nature is influenced by the devil, it comes straight from the devil. Satan the devil is this way, and he strives to influence human beings to go that way. When you read the parallel account in Matthew 18, you find that this becomes an issue where the Kingdom of God is at stake.

In Matthew 18, Christ said, Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven. So we won't be in God's Kingdom unless we have the approach and the attitude that a child has. In life, it's all a question of what is a man aiming for. This is from Barclay. Is he aiming to fulfill personal ambition, the acquisition of personal power, the enjoyment of personal prestige, the exaltation of the self? If we are, that's precisely the opposite of what the Kingdom of God is all about. The Kingdom of God is forgetting the self and serving others, giving to others, just as Jesus Christ set the right example.

Now turn over here to Mark 10, verse 35. Mark 10.35. We find another account of this. This is parallel account in Matthew 20. Verse 35. Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him, saying, Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask. How about it? Lord, whatever we ask you, would you do it? And he said to them, What do you want me to do for you? He didn't rebuke them. He knew where they were coming from. He just said, What do you want me to do?

And they said to him, Grant us that we may sit, one on your right hand, the other on your left hand, in your glory. You're glorified. We want to be right there with you, Lord. One on the right, one on the left. And Jesus said, You do not know what you're asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism I'm baptized with?

And they said, Yes. He said, Well, you will be. Verse 40, But to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared. So God is preparing different ones for positions in the kingdom. Now, when the Ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John. Now, why? Well, they wanted to be on the right hand, the left hand. They were displeased because James and John beat him to the punch. And Jesus called them to himself and said, You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them.

And the great ones exercised authority over them. And yet it shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. So again, we are to be servants, and whoever you desire, or whoever desires to be first, shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, to give his life a ransom for many.

Now you can ask yourself the question, what motivated them, James and John, to ask such a question? Why would they do this? You'll find over in Matthew's account that Mrs. Zebedee came along and asked the question. And maybe they were hiding behind her skirts. You know, it would be better for her to ask. Well, it could have been selfish ambition, it could have been their motivation. But I want you to stop and think about what if Jesus Christ had granted their request? You ever thought that through? What if Christ had granted their request and they achieved possession through this method? In other words, they get this position not because they deserved it, they just ask for it. Christ said, sure, I like you, John. John was the one disciple he was the closest to. And James, sure, I'll give it to you. When the Father had somebody else in mind, where would they want to sit the next time? Would they cast their eyes on a higher position? If they got this position, would they be satisfied with that? Would they now want to go a little higher? Sooner or later with this line of thinking, it would lead them to want to be next to the Father, to replace Christ, and eventually to take His place.

This is precisely what Lucifer did. He was created, given a high position, he wasn't satisfied with that, he wanted to come up a little higher, eventually he wanted to replace God. And so this is the type of attitude that leads to that. And so, obviously, then, it is a satanic approach. And it is not the approach that you and I want to have. You see, the disciples, this was the way they thought, they argued, they constantly debated. Remember what Christ says to His disciples, and the Bible says to us, Christ said, Christ said, my thoughts are not your thoughts, and neither are my ways your ways. You find that they, very clearly, were wanting to exalt themselves. As Barkley says, Jesus uses a kind of gradation here. If you wish to be great, he says, be a servant. If you wish to be first, be a slave. Then he goes on to say, here is the Christian revolution. Here is the complete reversal of the world's standards. A complete set of values that are totally opposite to the way the world functions. The way this society functions. In this world, you ingratiate yourself to somebody. You try to exalt yourself. You place yourself in position. You have selfish ambition. You get ahead because you want it for yourself. You're not out serving. There's an interesting scripture. The word servant here is the word dicanos. It's the word that is translated servant or minister in the church. It's the word that's translated for deacon. A deacon is a servant. It's the word that's translated for minister. A minister is a servant. I think what a difference it would make is, whenever we ordain a man as a deacon, instead of using the term deacon, we said we're going to ordain you to the office of a servant. What that would do to our culture. It was not I'm the head deacon. Years ago, it used to be, it had these armbands, head deacon. And somebody was a head deacon. That meant somebody was the bottom deacon. So you had deacons. Well, the word deacon, the word simply means to be a servant. And then the word slave here is doulos, again, a bond slave. And there's an interesting scripture in the Old Testament. Just jot down. Deuteronomy 15, verses 12 through 17. Deuteronomy 15, 12 through 17. After a man served seven years in slavery, he could go free. But if he happened to say, I love my master, and I want to stay right here, and I'll not go away. You know, I love you. I love your household. I love your family. I really appreciate the circumstances here. I want to stay. Then they would bore his ear through, put a hole in it, and that was to symbolize that he was a slave forever. In this case, the slave willingly chose to give up his freedom for the love of his master, his master's house, and household. The reason why I cite this is because the spiritual parallels are obvious when you look at it. When Peter, James, Paul, Jude, in their writings address or describe themselves, they always describe themselves as the doulos of God, the slave of God. They're not talking in terms of doing just acts of service. They were thinking of themselves becoming a slave. It is something you are, not just something you do. If you are one, then you will do. You will serve, but you are to be one. You and I, brethren, when we were baptized, have given up our lives, our old way, our approach, out of love for God, his way, his household, his kingdom. We have become now children of the kingdom. We have given up our ways. And so we are to live and obey God.

Let's go over to Matthew 23. Well, we'll skip that because we're running out of time. Just write down Matthew 23, verses 10 through 12. We have another example where Christ once again stressed the issue of humility. That humility was needed to serve. But the third occasion when this occurred is back here in Luke 22, verse 23. Luke 22, beginning of verse 23, Christ had told them one of them would betray him. They questioned among themselves in verse 23 who was going to betray him. Apparently, they hadn't figured it out. Then they began, verse 24. Remember, this is the last Passover. Christ had washed their feet. They'd taken the symbols. And what are they doing? They're disputing who's going to be the greatest among them. And Christ, once again, covers the same principle about serving. Then he goes on to show that he was going to give them a kingdom. Now you might ask, why would they be arguing over this? What would have precipitated this? Well, it wouldn't be hard to deduce from the context of what Christ has said that the conversation went something like this. I'm the most loyal to Christ. I wouldn't betray him. No, I'm more loyal than you are. They would brag about who would be the greatest defender of Christ. I'd be willing to die for him over my dead body. They began to argue about who would be the closest, therefore who would be the greatest. Then Christ had to say, okay, fellas, and began to explain to them, again, this principle. So, on at least three different occasions, Jesus Christ had to explain. Now, there may have been many more. These are the ones that are recorded in the Bible. That Jesus Christ had to teach them what the proper attitude was. You might remember in John 13 that Jesus Christ instituted the foot-washing ceremony to teach humility. That Jesus Christ, as their Master, their Lord, got down and washed their feet, the job of the lowliest servant back at that time in Palestine. So, he was trying to prepare his disciples to have the proper mindset, the proper outlook on life. He wanted them to have the heart of a servant, the mind of a servant, that their mind, their heart would be like him and their approach. Humanly speaking, I think, human beings think, well, if you have this type of humility and servant, you will lose authority, and that's not true. You might remember Jesus Christ spoke with authority, the Bible says. He was clearly in charge. He was humble enough that he had the power. When they came to crucify him, he could have said, and that's enough. He could have called down twelve legions of angels and wiped them all out. And, of course, the plan of salvation would have been over. He wouldn't have had to die, but you and I would not have a Savior for our sins. He didn't do that. True humility is shown when you have the power to do something, and you don't do it, because you know it's not for the good of those that you might want to do it to. So, brethren, God has called us to have this heart, this mind, this attitude, this approach before Him. Humble service is not in contradiction to godly leadership. God has called us all to be, eventually, kings and priests in His kingdom. We're going to rule in the world tomorrow, but we are going to rule as humble servants. So, humble service is not in contradiction to leadership. Rather, it is the very essence of proper leadership.