His Bidding

Another classic this week by David Timms, see the Good Friday post for his last bit of insight. Let me also recommend a book we used in his Servant Leadership class that I feel is a must read for every Christian who leads, every staff person, every elder: Uncommon Leadership by Robert Dean Kuest It’s a phenomenal book, not popular, but phenomenal.

Good servants don’t get to do what they want.

In the ancient world, slaves and servants did not enjoy the freedom to pursue personal ambition, vision, or plans. They served their master’s pleasure. The very notion that they might have their own agenda or function autonomously never crossed their minds, except in rebellious moments. Serving their master did not leave room to choose their own career, build their own little kingdoms, or seek power and fame. They lived, humbly, for a single purpose—to do the master’s bidding.

When the apostle Paul described himself as a bondslave of Christ, this model of servitude surely dominated his thinking. He understood very well that the primary task of slavery to Christ is not busyness of our own making or dreams of our own devising but diligent attentiveness to the Master, willingness to do as He requests, and obedient responsiveness.

If Jesus or Paul had spoken of themselves (and us) as team captains, chief strategists, Kingdom CEOs, we might rightly surmise that our job is to take charge. But the words steward, servant, and slave dominate their language.

The servant metaphor underscores a profound spiritual truth. We are not our own. We have been bought with a price. Christ redeemed us (bought as back—a slavery term) by dying on the Cross.

In a church as enamored with power, allusions of grandeur, and visions of personal success as the world, those of us who wear the mantle of leader would do well to replace it in our minds with the biblical image of slavery. When ambition, power, pride, and control intoxicate us and leave us spiritually numbed and stumbling, it might help to revisit some of the oldest Christian ground of all.

“Though Jesus was in the form of God, He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant.” (Philippians 2:6-7)

Of course, the call to servanthood extends well beyond those in Christian leadership. It includes all of us who name Christ as Lord.

Whose bidding are we doing this week? Are we attentive and responsive to Him above all else? Or do we remain distracted and devising our own plans? May we increasingly discover true freedom in serving Him.

In HOPE –

David