For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. | Galatians 5:13–15
On Sunday, Andrew taught about leadership in the local church. One of the points that he made was that pastors are servant leaders. This does not mean that they are the only servants in the church, but that they lead the people in the act of being servants. I am going to write a few blogs this week exploring this idea, but I want to begin by casting a vision for servanthood.
Being a servant is something that many people want others to do, while not necessarily loving it for themselves. No one ever says: I want to be a servant when I grow up. As a matter of fact, most people strive for the opposite; the opposite of servanthood is power. Many will argue that they don’t want to rule over anyone else, they simply want to be self-sufficient: ruling over their own life. This is still on the opposite end of the spectrum from servanthood, which is intentionally setting yourself aside for the sake of others. The question is: why does the Bible call us to be servants, when we live in a world that encourages us to fight against it?
In Genesis 1-2, we see God create a world that depended on stewardship and service. Adam was called to tend the garden and give order to the creation; to serve it, not just take from it. Eve was presented to Adam as a helper, one who serves him (the mutual submission of the marriage relationship is teased out for us a bit more Ephesians 5). The beautiful description of perfect community is given to us in Genesis 2:25:
And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
This absolute shameless vulnerability with one another comes from the fact that both trusted that the other would serve them. In submission to God, both played out their role of servant. This statement mirrors the end of Genesis 1, which says: it was very good. This is how all people were created to function in line with God’s order.
In Genesis 3, the pull of power and their desire to ‘be like God,’ draws them into the selfish act of sin. The results of this are that serving becomes much more difficult, as people become disconnected from God and hostile toward one another (the earth even begins to fight back with thorns and thistles). This does not change who we were created to be. People still are at their best, when they are submitting to God and serving one another. We see God call his people to do that all throughout the OT.
In The NT, Jesus comes as a model of servanthood (Philippians 2). He gives His life as a ransom for many. Everything that he does, He does to serve. As He prepares to leave this earth, He tells His disciples that they should follow His example (that is the topic of tomorrow’s blog). This applies to all who claim Christ, not just the leaders.
The church is set up as a place to apply this vision of mutual serving. The image that the Bible gives us is as a body. Sometimes people read this as a machine, with every person as a cog. A body does not work that way; every part is there to not only serve its function, but to receive from the other parts. A machine is lifeless, but a body requires care. As Paul puts it in his chapter on the church as a body:
God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. | 1 Corinthians 12:24b–27
The body of Christ is a group of people serving one another fully and receiving all that they need from others (Acts 2.44-45). We have servanthood created into us, modeled for us by Jesus, and given to us as the structure of the church (and the description of a healthy marriage). As long as we live in this sinful world (and are sinful ourselves), this service will not work perfectly. We will give to others who do not serve us reciprocally, and we will have aspects of our lives that are not met by others. This is no reason to give up on the ideal. What should drive us to service is the vision of perfect servanthood that we have awaiting us in heaven.
This picture of the church that we have painted for us will be fulfilled and complete when we are in the presence of Christ and all submitted to Him perfectly. The angel at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb calls John a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Heaven will be all people worshipping Jesus and serving one another. Everyone’s needs will be taken care of, not because each person is self-sufficient, but because each person is served by others (as they serve others).
The call for Christians is to faithfully live this out in a world that we know will fail us. To continue serving when we aren’t served back. To give when we don’t receive. The motivation to do this is the promise of the gospel. We will live eternally in perfection, so we are never missing out. We have been given everything in Jesus, so there is nothing else we need. In serving others, we strengthen our dependence on God and we witness His goodness to us and through us, as we are remade to see the world as he does. Jesus said: Seek first His kingdom, and all of these things will be added to you; this is done by showing us what we have been given and what we really need. Serving others is a means by which God shows us this truth.