Called To Serve part 3

 I hope you have taken the time to read through part one and part two in order that you may get the most out of part three. We understand that Yahweh had set up a government of checks and balances in Israel which included the High Priest, High Judge, the Prophet and the king. But these offices had failed to retain the understanding that their purpose was the people. Their purpose was to serve the people to maintain a kingdom that was focused on Yahweh and each other. Instead, they put that focus on themselves and everything Yahweh had put in place for a prosperous society could not function due to the improper focus. Now let’s turn the page to where we are today, after the cross.

Jesus came with multiple purposes including the revealing of the depth of Father’s heart. Jesus taught and demonstrated what relationship looks like in the Kingdom, including the servant-leaders, and then he left to send us the Spirit to empower us to live it. In our present age we have the Body of Christ, which we are all part of and the only head is Jesus. He has given us trainers, the five-fold (apostles, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher), to train us in the works that will unite us and grow us into the maturity of Jesus. In this structure we are all part of the royal priesthood, each of us a leader in a broken world. Our focus is on those who Father loves, the lost of this world, not to lord it over them but to serve them so they would be open to Jesus.

The structure of the Body can be scary for those who are looking for a pyramid structure with a boss dictating to everyone else. Instead it is an inverted pyramid. Paul refers to the apostles as being the ones who take the most abuse as they lay it all on the line for the purpose of serving the Body. Paul gives us a wonderful picture of the Body in 1 Corinthians 12 and too often that’s as far as we go. But Paul said that there is a way that allows all the diversity to be united together, functioning together for the same purpose. He follows this with the wonder 1 Corinthians 13. You should pause and refresh yourself on these two chapters.

What Paul is giving us is the manner in which we prevent the failure we see in the government of Israel. The whole Bible is about relationship and Father wants us to understand what right relationship looks like with him and with each other. Understanding this, let’s consider Romans 15. 

Verse one should stop us right in our tracks when we are considering the relationship between the mature and the beginners in the Body:

“We who are powerful need to be patient with the weakness of those who don’t have power, and not please ourselves.”

This works for relationships in the Body but also with those who have yet to come to Jesus. We can have a terrible attitude toward those who are still controlled by their sins, new believers and pre-believers. We make a mistake when we try to control their sin instead of demonstrating Father’s love, patience and kindness. We are not responsible for conviction, that is the Spirit’s job. We have enough on our hands to stay within our anointing, demonstrating the power of Father’s love to heal and forgive.

When we see this as our primary purpose, to demonstrate Father’s love, they will soon recognize Jesus’ love demonstrated on the cross and love will compel them to forsake sin in the same way it compels us to serve as servants. There is no fast track. Everything takes time to learn and respond to. We love and we make sure we are prepared to give the reason for our hope, to new believers and pre-believers. We are all learning. There will always be those more mature and less mature than us. So we serve with humility. Consider :

“Each of us should please our neighbours for their good in order to build them up. Christ didn’t please himself, but, as it is written, The insults of those who insulted you fell on me.” (Romans 15:2-3)

That’s a pretty powerful picture, absorbing what is intended to destroy your neighbour. How do we do that? The enemy is out to destroy your neighbour but instead we cover those moments by grace. Sounds poetic but when you have been raised in an environment of calling out every sin, every offense, every mistake, it can be hard to shift gears into proper kingdom leadership.

I am going to give you some time to seek Father’s heart on this. If you have questions, take them to him and wait on the answers. I pray that he will show you his heart on the matter. We will come back to finish this off with part 4.