| SERVANTS |
A FAMILY, with their eyes lifted UPWARD, and their love pressing OUTWARD, and their ambition pushing DOWNWARD, is UNSTOPPABLE.
Riley Sheehan, The Austin Stone
At the Austin Stone Worship Collective this year, we’ve focused on a single idea: filling our town (and ones nearby) with servants. We want to see Jesus lifted high, and one of the best ways to do that is through serving God, each other, and the communities in which we live. I like how Riley Sheehan frames the concept, explaining why I’m borrowing it.
We are not servants alienated from one another, but family. As servants, we operate in a specific way. We look upward, press outward, and push downward so that our lives tell the story, thereby changing other people’s lives and giving God all the glory and praise.
FAMILY
A traditional servant can be dismissed, both mentally and physically. However, Jesus’ definition of servanthood differs from the standard one. He demonstrates what servanthood looks like by washing his disciples’ feet.
Jesus’ definition also veers from the norm in that believers in him become children of God. (“But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name” (John 1:12).) Paul uses adoption language to illustrate the idea, too (Romans 8:12–7). Once, we were far off. God, though, being rich in mercy, chooses and calls us as his own, despite knowing how awful we are and how prone — how prone! — to wander.
UPWARD
Servants typically work to earn wages. Monetary gain, though, is not the motivation for the Christian servant. Rather, it is the reward of God alone. David says in Psalm 16 that the Lord is the portion of his inheritance and his cup. For David, there is no greater or better reward than God’s presence.
Even without David’s personal recommendation, God first and others second has always been the way to follow God. God clarifies the matter with the commandments in the Old Testament; Jesus confirms it in the New Testament when he says the greatest commandment is to love God with all one’s heart, mind, soul, and strength (Mark 12:28–34).
OUTWARD
The second, of course, is like it: After loving God, we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. “Neighbors” refers to anyone we come into contact with, a point Jesus elucidates. When a lawyer asks Jesus to define “neighbor,” Jesus answers the question with a story (Luke 10:25–37). The story, however, focuses more on the spirit, rather than the letter, of the law. Jesus wants to convey that mercy and service should be extended toward all people and not on the basis of some checklistable definition.
The lawyer and surrounding audience might not have liked Jesus’ reply. However, they shouldn’t have been surprised by it. They read the Torah; they vaunt their heritage and lineage for the world to hear and see. Because of that, they should know the calling given to Abraham. The man wasn’t called to benefit his own line alone but to bless all the families of the earth (Genesis 12:1–3).
DOWNWARD
Regularly enacting that idea — “pushing love outward” — isn’t easy, though. It demands sacrifice and discomfort. It also entails humility, a downward posture.
Jesus says the greatest in the kingdom of God is not the one with power, money, or fame; rather, “whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant” (Mark 10:41–5). Jesus models this humility and service in how he lives his life. He submits to the will of his Father, so much so that he lays down his life for the many (Philippians 2:1–13). By living that life and dying that death, he gives us a mindset and example to follow.
UNSTOPPABLE
As that mindset permeates our servant-family and our love for God and others, we become an unstoppable force. The first, the family, produces unity, something Paul urges the church toward in Philippians. “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27).
The second and third (love for God and others) enable focus, aiming our service in the right directions. The fourth ensures humility, what C.S. Lewis terms “thinking of oneself less.” As those pieces integrate, we become one body, a church that the gates of hell cannot overpower (Matthew 16:13–20).
Keeping all that in mind, let’s fill this town (wherever that is) with servants. Let us become a family, united in love for God and others. Let us pursue the downward trajectory of servanthood so that we become unstoppable ambassadors for Christ.
Image: Valerie Hinojosa (Creative Commons)