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.
Showing posts with label serving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label serving. Show all posts
Friday, January 16, 2015
Monday, October 7, 2013
1 Timothy : None Of Me, All Of You
What are you praising Jesus for today? Do you actually have to think about the answer? Jesus told us that the person who is forgiven much loves much. The more you realize the significance of what Jesus has done for you, the more you understand what kind of enemy you were to God, the more you realize how much you were a stench to him, then the more your love will be for him. If you don't realize what you were and what he has saved you from, your love won't be so much.
This is the point apostle Paul is making to Timothy as he continues to write. First he tells Timothy that he is thankful. It is the only proper position from which to serve Jesus, a heart overflowing with thanksgiving:
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord. (v. 12)
What's the first thing he is thankful for:
He has given me the strength for my work because he knew that he could trust me. (v. 12b)
Can we serve Jesus with our own resources, our own intelligence, our own determination, our own strength? Go ahead and try if you want and then you and I will sit down in a couple of months and see where you are. I will save you the time and tell you where you will be: You will be dead spiritually. We can't do anything for God with our own resources. We can only serve him when we are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Without him we can do nothing; with him we can do anything. Paul knew this and thanked Jesus for the strength he gave him to serve him. But what is this thing about trust?
Paul writes that Jesus knew he could trust him. Sounds arrogant but Paul knew who he was in Jesus and he knew what he had been saved from and he knew that the love of Jesus would always compel him to move forward, to never go back, to never go back to what he had been:
I used to say terrible and insulting things about him, and I was cruel. But he had mercy on me because I didn’t know what I was doing, and I had not yet put my faith in him. Christ Jesus our Lord was very kind to me. He has greatly blessed my life with faith and love just like his own. (v. 13-14)
There is something here that Paul had that most of us miss today. Paul had nothing to offer Jesus and he knew it. Today we ask the Lord to use our talents, our riches, our fame, our intellect, as if needs them. Jesus doesn't want any of it. Do you understand that? You have nothing to offer Jesus except your love and your obedience. Look at Paul's words again:
Christ Jesus our Lord was very kind to me. He has greatly blessed my life with faith and love just like his own.
He had greatly blessed his life with faith and love, just like Jesus'. Jesus does not want you to use your faith. You can't manage to generate the faith he desires you to have. He just wants you to die to yourself so he can fill you with everything you need, like his supernatural faith, the faith that allows the power of God to flow so you can speak to the dead to rise and the mountains to leap.
We go on a lot about loving our neighbour, loving the lost, loving the Body but if you try it with your love, which is second rate at best, you will fail and you may actually kill someone. We need his love. We need Jesus to bless our life with love, just like his. This is why Paul was as thankful because he knew that Jesus was working through him. On his own he was a hateful man, a blasphemer and murderer, but empowered by Jesus, Paul had become the great apostle to the Gentiles, a lover of God, the carrier of the revelation of the Body, and champion of Grace.
Imagine what we could become if we would allow the Spirit to change our mind on this matter. Imagine if instead of trying to serve Jesus with our pitiful resources, we actually lived in Jesus and allowed him to manifest himself through us.
Oh Lord, break me; melt me; mold me; fill me. None of me. None of my emotions. None of my ideas. None of my desires. All of you. All of your power. All of your faith. All of your love. May we be obedient to the Father's will as you were, empowered by the Spirit to serve all of our days.
This is the point apostle Paul is making to Timothy as he continues to write. First he tells Timothy that he is thankful. It is the only proper position from which to serve Jesus, a heart overflowing with thanksgiving:
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord. (v. 12)
What's the first thing he is thankful for:
He has given me the strength for my work because he knew that he could trust me. (v. 12b)
Can we serve Jesus with our own resources, our own intelligence, our own determination, our own strength? Go ahead and try if you want and then you and I will sit down in a couple of months and see where you are. I will save you the time and tell you where you will be: You will be dead spiritually. We can't do anything for God with our own resources. We can only serve him when we are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Without him we can do nothing; with him we can do anything. Paul knew this and thanked Jesus for the strength he gave him to serve him. But what is this thing about trust?
Paul writes that Jesus knew he could trust him. Sounds arrogant but Paul knew who he was in Jesus and he knew what he had been saved from and he knew that the love of Jesus would always compel him to move forward, to never go back, to never go back to what he had been:
I used to say terrible and insulting things about him, and I was cruel. But he had mercy on me because I didn’t know what I was doing, and I had not yet put my faith in him. Christ Jesus our Lord was very kind to me. He has greatly blessed my life with faith and love just like his own. (v. 13-14)
There is something here that Paul had that most of us miss today. Paul had nothing to offer Jesus and he knew it. Today we ask the Lord to use our talents, our riches, our fame, our intellect, as if needs them. Jesus doesn't want any of it. Do you understand that? You have nothing to offer Jesus except your love and your obedience. Look at Paul's words again:
Christ Jesus our Lord was very kind to me. He has greatly blessed my life with faith and love just like his own.
He had greatly blessed his life with faith and love, just like Jesus'. Jesus does not want you to use your faith. You can't manage to generate the faith he desires you to have. He just wants you to die to yourself so he can fill you with everything you need, like his supernatural faith, the faith that allows the power of God to flow so you can speak to the dead to rise and the mountains to leap.
We go on a lot about loving our neighbour, loving the lost, loving the Body but if you try it with your love, which is second rate at best, you will fail and you may actually kill someone. We need his love. We need Jesus to bless our life with love, just like his. This is why Paul was as thankful because he knew that Jesus was working through him. On his own he was a hateful man, a blasphemer and murderer, but empowered by Jesus, Paul had become the great apostle to the Gentiles, a lover of God, the carrier of the revelation of the Body, and champion of Grace.
Imagine what we could become if we would allow the Spirit to change our mind on this matter. Imagine if instead of trying to serve Jesus with our pitiful resources, we actually lived in Jesus and allowed him to manifest himself through us.
Oh Lord, break me; melt me; mold me; fill me. None of me. None of my emotions. None of my ideas. None of my desires. All of you. All of your power. All of your faith. All of your love. May we be obedient to the Father's will as you were, empowered by the Spirit to serve all of our days.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Ascribe To The Lord The Glory Due His Name
So how was your day yesterday? And the day before that? How about the one before that? Sometimes we don't think about it as much as we should and other times we think about it too much. But here we are on another Sunday, a day of reflection, of thanksgiving, of celebration as we worship Jesus our Lord. We have arrived on this day with all the baggage we picked up over the last week and probably with some we have been carrying with us for a long time. We need to do something with all this baggage because it is weighing us down.
It is a perfect day to deal with it because it is a day we are focusing on the greatness of our God. It is important that we deal with it because it is getting in our way. We are not here for ourselves. Our stuff was taken care of on the cross; the day we accepted Jesus as Lord all our "things" were swept away. We were told not to pick up any more "things", that we no longer belong here but we have been left here to serve God's purpose. So we are servants and servants don't take care of their own needs, their master does that for them so they are free to serve. That is exactly what Jesus promised us. He told us not to worry about our needs, that our Father will take care of us, but we are to seek the things of the Kingdom. That means serve.
If we have all this baggage we keep picking up and carrying around with us we get to the point where we are too busy managing it to be able to serve. Serving is when we are occupied with other people, being part of their life. If we don't love people we need to question our love for God. Worshiping, learning and growing are important parts of our lives which keep us focused and healthy but if that is all there is then we are in the wrong. We are here to be an influence for Jesus in people's lives. Plain and simple. So let's take care of this baggage.
We do that by remembering who we serve and giving all the baggage over to him. We probably can't find solutions to them anyway and it is the reason we are carrying them around in the first place. Jesus can find solutions and restore our peace. So, let's remember who he is. The psalmist wrote:
Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness. (Psalm 29:1-2)
Ascribe means to say that it belongs to the Lord, it is his character, to credit him with this thing. The psalmist is saying realize this is who our God is. So, as you stand there with all that baggage confess with your mouth the glory and strength of our Lord. Allow him to be as big, as large, as mighty, as powerful as he is. As you allow him to be that powerful in your life your baggage begins to look pretty small. Compare it to his largeness instead of to your smallness.
We glorify God for everything he has done in the past, for everything we read in the Word, for what he has done in other people's lives but we often fail to glorify him in ours. What has he done in our lives? What has he done for me? How has he helped me in the past? How many times has he rescued me? How faithful to his promises has he been in my life? I need to credit him with these things. I need to credit him the glory due his name because of the many things he has done for me. As I do this I begin to know I can trust him with this baggage I have refused to let go of because he has been faithful with so many things in my life. I now feel overwhelmed with the need and desire to glorify him by trusting him with everything. That's what happens when we truly worship our Lord.
I really like how the psalmist refers to us as "mighty ones". That is very insightful into what we become when Jesus is truly Lord over us, when we trust him with everything and glorify his name in our living a life of trust. We become mighty ones because nothing can shake us or cause fear to reduce us. We are like mighty warriors who are not afraid of the battle because we are confident of the strength of our King. We serve in his army, glad to lay down our lives because it no longer belongs to us. We realize that our lives are for the glory of our King, that we are here to serve and our service is to others. Jesus said that no soldier gets involved in the affairs of civilians. In other words, the normal affairs of this life are no longer the baggage we carry around. We are warriors and we only carry what is necessary for the fight. Let's enter into worship today recognizing all that God has done for us, ascribing to him the glory due his name, and allow him to take the baggage from us so we can be refreshed for the battle.
It is a perfect day to deal with it because it is a day we are focusing on the greatness of our God. It is important that we deal with it because it is getting in our way. We are not here for ourselves. Our stuff was taken care of on the cross; the day we accepted Jesus as Lord all our "things" were swept away. We were told not to pick up any more "things", that we no longer belong here but we have been left here to serve God's purpose. So we are servants and servants don't take care of their own needs, their master does that for them so they are free to serve. That is exactly what Jesus promised us. He told us not to worry about our needs, that our Father will take care of us, but we are to seek the things of the Kingdom. That means serve.
If we have all this baggage we keep picking up and carrying around with us we get to the point where we are too busy managing it to be able to serve. Serving is when we are occupied with other people, being part of their life. If we don't love people we need to question our love for God. Worshiping, learning and growing are important parts of our lives which keep us focused and healthy but if that is all there is then we are in the wrong. We are here to be an influence for Jesus in people's lives. Plain and simple. So let's take care of this baggage.
We do that by remembering who we serve and giving all the baggage over to him. We probably can't find solutions to them anyway and it is the reason we are carrying them around in the first place. Jesus can find solutions and restore our peace. So, let's remember who he is. The psalmist wrote:
Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness. (Psalm 29:1-2)
Ascribe means to say that it belongs to the Lord, it is his character, to credit him with this thing. The psalmist is saying realize this is who our God is. So, as you stand there with all that baggage confess with your mouth the glory and strength of our Lord. Allow him to be as big, as large, as mighty, as powerful as he is. As you allow him to be that powerful in your life your baggage begins to look pretty small. Compare it to his largeness instead of to your smallness.
We glorify God for everything he has done in the past, for everything we read in the Word, for what he has done in other people's lives but we often fail to glorify him in ours. What has he done in our lives? What has he done for me? How has he helped me in the past? How many times has he rescued me? How faithful to his promises has he been in my life? I need to credit him with these things. I need to credit him the glory due his name because of the many things he has done for me. As I do this I begin to know I can trust him with this baggage I have refused to let go of because he has been faithful with so many things in my life. I now feel overwhelmed with the need and desire to glorify him by trusting him with everything. That's what happens when we truly worship our Lord.
I really like how the psalmist refers to us as "mighty ones". That is very insightful into what we become when Jesus is truly Lord over us, when we trust him with everything and glorify his name in our living a life of trust. We become mighty ones because nothing can shake us or cause fear to reduce us. We are like mighty warriors who are not afraid of the battle because we are confident of the strength of our King. We serve in his army, glad to lay down our lives because it no longer belongs to us. We realize that our lives are for the glory of our King, that we are here to serve and our service is to others. Jesus said that no soldier gets involved in the affairs of civilians. In other words, the normal affairs of this life are no longer the baggage we carry around. We are warriors and we only carry what is necessary for the fight. Let's enter into worship today recognizing all that God has done for us, ascribing to him the glory due his name, and allow him to take the baggage from us so we can be refreshed for the battle.
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