Monday, August 13,
2012, 8:09 a.m. – the Lord woke me with the song “Servant of the Lord.” Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.
I read 1 Corinthians 4 (NIV 1984):
So then, men ought to
regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things
of God. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove
faithful. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court;
indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not
make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before
the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is
hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time
each will receive his praise from God.
Now, brothers, I have
applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may
learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.”
Then you will not take pride in one man over against another. For who makes you
different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if
you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
Already you have all
you want! Already you have become rich! You have become kings—and that without
us! How I wish that you really had become kings so that we might be kings with
you! For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of
the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a
spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. We are fools for
Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are
honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are
in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own
hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when
we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum
of the earth, the refuse of the world.
I am not writing this
to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children. Even though you have ten
thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus
I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me.
For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is
faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus,
which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.
Some of you have
become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. But I will come to you very
soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these
arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. For the kingdom of God
is not a matter of talk but of power. What do you prefer? Shall I come to you
with a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit?
Regarded
as Servants
Paul
was an apostle of Jesus Christ, called to be a servant of the Lord and a
minister of the gospel. Although not all followers of Christ are called in
exactly this same manner, we are all called to be the Lord’s servants; to be his
witnesses and his messengers of the gospel of Jesus Christ (See Acts 1:8; Matt.
28:19-20). We have all been entrusted with the Holy Spirit within us, who
reveals to us the secret things of God, and we have all been entrusted with the
word of God, i.e. with the secret (spiritually discerned) things of God (See 1
Co. 2).
The
word “servant” means one who serves another underneath the authority of the one
whom he or she serves. Jesus is Lord. That means he is boss, and it is our job
to do what he asks us to do. So, we are his servants to do his bidding. The
word “entrusted” in Greek has the meaning of a “house manager” or a “steward.” A
steward is “somebody who manages somebody else's property, finances, or
household” (Encarta). We have all been given this trust of managing (being in
charge of; being responsible for; handling; administering; or operating) that
with which we have been entrusted. We have all been entrusted with the Holy
Spirit within us, who reveals spiritual things to us, and with the word of God.
We are responsible to utilize what we have been given, to apply it to our own
lives first and then to share it with others so that they may also receive
Christ as Lord.
Those
who have been given this trust, i.e. all of us who are in genuine relationship
with Jesus Christ must prove faithful to that trust. To “prove” something means
to “establish the truth or existence of something by providing evidence or
argument” (Encarta). We do this through our obedience and our actions, i.e. it
means “to show yourself to be competent and worthy” (Encarta). We must prove
ourselves to be faithful of this trust we have been given. To be faithful means
to be “unwavering in belief; consistently loyal and trustworthy; not adulterous
or promiscuous” in our relationship with God (see Encarta). This means, in all
practicality, that we are spending quality and quantitative time with the Lord
each day in prayer and in his word, that we are listening to what he says, that
we are obeying his teachings by applying them first to our own lives, and that
we are faithful in sharing the truths of scripture with other people so they
may, too, come to know Christ as Savior.
I Care
Little
In
the previous chapter, Paul addressed the Corinthian believers on the subject of
spiritual immaturity, worldliness and being followers of men. They were
boasting about what man they followed, and were not conscious of the fact that
all servants of the Lord are just the Lord’s servants, and not one is above the
other. We all have different functions and responsibilities, but not one of us
is to be raised above the other and put on a pedestal and worshiped or followed
in place of God. By becoming followers of men, even of godly men, the people
were thinking according to worldly standards. This happens much yet in the
church today where preachers or musicians, etc., are given the praise of men
instead of God, and are often followed over and above God, and often without
checking out what they are teaching against God’s holy word. That is because
mankind has the tendency to judge by human standards rather than by God’s
standards.
So,
Paul is continuing that thought here when he said that he cared little if he
was judged by men or by human courts, because God was his judge, because only
God truly knows what is in our hearts, and God is the one who sets the
standards for what is of him, not man. Man has different standards than does
God. God often chooses those that men often reject. Yet, even our own hearts
can deceive us at times, so we can’t always even fairly judge ourselves, even
when our consciences are clear. And, Paul’s conscience was clear, but he also
realized his own humanness and his own inability to truly evaluate even his own
heart. I may say my conscience is clear, but that does not mean I am perfect.
It just means that I have no knowledge that I am willfully giving into any sin,
and that, as far as I know, I am walking in obedience to Christ to the best of
my knowledge and understanding.
We
are not to judge what we have no knowledge or understanding about. In other
words, we are not to make false judgments or to judge by the standards of this
world or through our own human reasoning and intellect. We are to make
judgments concerning sin, but we are not to make hypocritical or condemning
type judgments. Judgments about sin should always have as their goal the
forgiveness and restoration of the sinner.
Yet,
this is speaking about making human judgments, by human standards, on matters
we know nothing about. One day God will bring everything to light, even things
hidden in the darkness, and he will expose the motives of men’s hearts for good
or for bad, and at that time every person will receive his reward, i.e. his
praise from God. To not go beyond what is written in scripture, in this
context, has to do with evaluating men by God’s standards as set forth in
scripture, not by worldly or human standards or thinking or evaluating. Then,
we won’t take pride in one person over another, because we will evaluate men by
God’s way of thinking.
On
Display
Judging
by human thinking, reasoning and worldly standards will often result in raising
up men (or women) who are not following God at all while discarding and
rejecting those who are true servants of the Lord, but who just don’t fit man’s
profile for acceptance. That often puts those true servants of the Lord in
positions of being despised and rejected of men – positions of great humility –
as people condemned to die; condemned of men to be tortured and exposed to the
wild animals in a coliseum. These true servants of the Lord will often not be
most popular, held in high esteem, and/or honored and respected, but will be
dishonored of men, considered almost as the scum of the earth and the refuse
(garbage) of the world to be thrown away, because we are considered as being of
no value or use to man, including to many “spiritual” leaders in today’s
churches or to Christians, in general, because we don’t fit with what mankind
has decided is the norm. Yet, God doesn’t think like we do. For that, I am
eternally grateful!
And,
we are in good company, because this is how Jesus Christ was treated, this is how
the prophets of old were treated, it is how the apostles and disciples were
treated, and it is how Jesus Christ said we would be treated if we are his true
followers. He said we would be hated like he was hated. If we are not hated,
then something is wrong. True followers of Jesus Christ should stand out in
stark contrast to the world. They should not fit in with the world’s standards,
including with the standards of the worldly church. They should stand out as
different, and set apart for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The
true gospel offends those who are perishing. True servants of God do not
compromise with the world and its standards and they do not operate in the
spiritual realm by worldly standards, and they definitely don’t water down the
gospel or the whole counsel of God to make it more palatable to its listeners.
Paul was hated because he told people the truth about their sin. Jesus was hated
for the same reason, plus he was hated for claiming to be God, as he is. If we
are to be like Jesus, and we are to be his true servants of the gospel, then we
need to follow Jesus’ example and the examples of Paul and the other apostles
in being faithful to God in teaching the whole counsel of God and the whole
gospel, which has the power to change hearts and minds for Jesus Christ. Amen!
Servant
of the Lord
/ An Original Work / July 26, 2012
Based
off Romans 1:1-17 NIV
Servant
of the Lord;
For the
gospel you’re set apart.
Promised
through the prophets of old:
Jesus,
Son of God.
Through
Him, and for His name alone,
We
receive His grace
To call
people, Him to obey;
Coming
from their faith.
Servant
of the Lord,
For the
gospel you’re set apart.
Promised
through the prophets of old:
Jesus,
Son of God.
You
belong to Christ;
Loved by
God, and called to be saints;
Serving
God with whole heart and mind;
Preaching
Jesus Christ;
Always
praying for others’ needs;
Helping
hand to lend;
Giving
courage to others’ faith,
For the
praise of God.
You
belong to Christ;
Loved by
God, and called to be saints;
Serving
God with whole heart and mind;
Preaching
Jesus Christ.
Servant
of the Lord;
Of the
gospel, I’m not ashamed;
For
salvation, power of God
To those
who have faith.
In the
gospel find righteousness:
Being
right with God.
Turn from
sin, and trust Jesus Christ.
By faith,
live in Him.
Servant
of the Lord;
Of the
gospel, I’m not ashamed;
For
salvation, power of God
To those
who have faith.
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