Learning To Serve

All I hear these days is about leadership in the Church. One would have to be a millionaire to attend all the various seminars and conferences on developing leaders. Leaders, leaders, leaders. What about learning to be a disciple, one who follows?

Jesus spent a bit of time on leadership, only he taught us that the Kingdom does not function like the world. In fact, he turned our idea of a leader on it's ear. My little blog is not adequate to deal with all the scripture so I am going to choose one as an example.

“The kings of the Gentiles rule over their subjects, and those in authority over them are called ‘friends of the people.’ But that’s not the way it will be with you. Instead, the greatest among you must become like a person of lower status and the leader like a servant." (Luke 22:24-26)

It is strange how we have managed to hold on to these words while doing the complete opposite. We quote the world's standards when it comes to what is owed to our leaders, while shutting off our brains. I am not saying we should not trust the leaders only that we should understand the Kingdom character of leadership.

Servanthood sounds so "sexy" according to what is taught today but the life of a servant was void of any personal needs. It was all about the one being served. We look at this and consider that it is God we are serving but that is not what Jesus was saying. Leaders in the Kingdom set aside their personal affairs to serve the people:

So which one is greater, the one who is seated at the table or the one who serves at the table? Isn’t it the one who is seated at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. (Luke 22:27)

I love how Jesus pointed out that we set the example for those called to leadership. Yes, called. Leaders do not make that decision themselves but instead are selected by the Spirit, called out as the apostles were, to lay down their lives in service to the members of the Body of Christ.

It is not the leaders who sit at the table but the members of the Body. Servants get abused, taken advantage of, some are even killed. That is the position and consequences of being a servant, a lowly one. It is not employment, a job or a career. It is a responsibility to which people are assigned. If you are in this position, do you think you should be better respected, better treated, better paid? Wow! There is so much wrong with that mental picture. Just the pay aspect. Who is our provider? Yes, Scripture tell people to support those who serve them but does that mean you stop serving if they don't? If this is your mentality you aren't really paying attention to the example Jesus set and what we did to him.

Today's blog is only to point you in a direction I believe it is worthwhile investigating. Take a closer look at what Jesus instructed was the position and responsibility to which some of us are called. Maybe fewer of us would volunteer if we knew the full price.

The Weight Of The Cross

Pilate has questioned him. Herod has dismissed him. The crowd has rejected him. The soldiers have beaten him. Now he carries the cross.

Perhaps at the darkest moments of our lives we have imagined such cruelty on our worse enemies, but on the innocent?

Jesus never got involved in politics. He didn't seem to care who held power in Israel. He didn't try to become king. In fact, he avoided it, leaving when he thought the crowd was going to force it on him. He didn't fault the Pharisees for trying to keep the traditions from being diluted by the powerful Greek culture. His problem with them was only that they allowed such traditions to take priority over people's relationship with God.

Jesus was an innocent. A man feared by the powerful because of his innocence and purity. And here he walked, beaten, almost to death, exhausted, no strength left, forced to carry this cruel instrument of death. He was a dead man walking.

But even in this there was no peace.

Even in this he was taunted, spat on, despised. No rest for the wicked. But he was the opposite of wicked. He was the essence of goodness and love.

Here he was an innocent. A victim of Rome? A victim of the Jews? Hardly! They had no authority over him, except for what his Father gave them.

Yes, Jesus chose the Father's will over his own. This was his Father's doing. This was the way of redemption for all of creation. The only way.

So on he went. To do his Father's will. Because he loved his Father and obedience, even in death, was never a second thought.

How much did you say you love Jesus? Enough to bey him?

Thank you for the cross. May I have as much determination, love and selflessness to carry my own.

What Will This Day Be To You?

The betrayal has happened. The arrest took place. His disciples have all scattered. He stands alone. He has been questioned by the high priest. He has already been beaten. And now Peter has disowned him. He stands alone.

There is still a long day ahead for him. There is still Pilot.There is still Herod. There is still the beatings, the whips, the mocking, the condemnation. And at the end of it there is the cross. There is death.

Every step he takes is one step closer. Every breath he takes is a breath closer.

"Not my will but yours be done."

It was about his Father's will. It was always about his Father's will. He would do anything for his Father, who he loved and trusted. Jesus set the example for us.

He prayed it. He lived it. He walked in it. And now he stands alone. He stands alone to face what we should have and he did it because his Father willed it. He willed it for us, so we would never have to face it.

Will today be just another day for you? A holiday? A day to sleep in? Maybe just another day of work? Nothing special?

This is Crucifixion Day. This is the day that marks the moment the Creator went to bat for the creation. This is the day we mark, the day Jesus gave his all so we could receive God's all. Walk with him through it today.

At this moment Jesus stood alone but he stands alone no longer. Today he sits at the right hand of the Father and we are seated there with him; his Bride; the Church he redeemed by his blood. But it didn't come cheap. It came with the price of the cross. Let it be a day of praise as we rejoice in the goodness of our God.

Leader-Managers or Leader-Servants

Here we are, the day before the crucifixion, the day before Jesus was cruelly beaten and then nailed to the cross. Completely innocent of all charges but it was never about the charges and always about the Father's plan. Jesus' death was not a mistake but the plan since before the beginning of time. Unfortunately Jesus' disciples could not imagine what was about to happen and so missed all the foreshadowing Jesus gave them.

Now imagine that you are about to face a time of cruel torture. You know what is about to happen and you know it is not your fault but you are still going to be facing the hardest moment of your life. And while you are preparing yourself and your friends for what you are about to go through, your friends start fighting over something insignificant. Not only is it insignificant but it goes against what your life has stood for. They just don't know you at all. I wonder if that is how Jesus felt.

Here Jesus was, preparing his last meal, stealing himself for the onslaught that will take place in a few hours, and his disciples start arguing about who of them is the greatest. The argument arose when Jesus revealed that one of them would betray him. I can see how that could happen to these pre-Spirit-filled disciples.Each would be defending themselves from the thought it could me one of them which would lead to "I love him more than you" which would lead to "I am greater than you, look at all I have done." Jesus must have lost his appetite.

In his typical nature, Jesus gently corrected his disciples and reminded them what he had been teaching and demonstrating from the beginning. It is a lesson we would do well to learn and apply to our own service to the King:

Foreign kings order their people around, and powerful rulers call themselves everyone’s friends. But don’t be like them. The most important one of you should be like the least important, and your leader should be like a servant. (Luke 22:25-26, CEV)

We hear far too much about leadership these days. All people seem interested in is developing leaders and everyone wants to be a leader, but what we need to be doing is developing servants. "Don't be like them" is what Jesus says but we run after classes and courses that are based on best business practices in leadership development,from the world. Crazy. The only example we should be learning from is Jesus.

I have met too many pastors who act like world based leaders. They are powerful, professional, intelligent and run a well organized church. Their church is run like a well oiled organization or small business. But they act like the church owes them something, like a CEO expecting good bonuses for his hard work. Yes, they work hard but no one owes us anything, at least not in the sense the pastors think. God says that people need to take care of those who minister to them but it is a completely different sense than what these pastors were thinking.

Ministers of the gospel are servants and their purpose is to live and die for their sheep. They sacrifice in the same way Jesus did, where there is nothing held back and everything that is given is poured out. It is not a life of ease or popular vote. Pastors have to teach just as Jesus did, whether people like it or not. They have to deal with the tough stuff and if it costs them their lives to bring the truth then so be it.

Pastors are not managers. They do not manage finances, buildings or people. Pastors are servants who minister the Word of God, operating through the Spirit of God, to bring good food to God's children, to be wise in God's will and to plead for the lost to turn to Jesus. Unfortunately too many of us still have the mentality of the early disciples and try to be the "greatest" in the Kingdom. Jesus is not interested in how big the church is we "manage" but instead looks to our faithfulness in our service, regardless of where he has placed us to serve.

We who are pastors have a great responsibility to sacrifice everything to share with everyone everything we have been given by the Spirit. It is wrong for us to measure success in offering amounts, size of our building or the numbers in our congregation. The number of books we have written, the time spent on speaking tours amounts to nothing compared to setting it all aside to sacrifice all we have achieved to bring Jesus to those who need him at that moment. We are servants here, not lords. We are servants, not kings. We are willing to be abused in order to have one opportunity to help someone with Jesus.

As we consider the cross and what it cost Jesus, let's consider whether our attitude and service are pleasing to him. After all, it isn't about us and all about our King.