Social Servants or Bond Slaves?
Being in ministry isn't what it used to be! Years ago, priorities were clearer,
black and white were more easily seen. The Gospel was a thing both hated and
respected. People had real needs and the answers were there in the Word of God
if you looked, knocked, asked.
Today, everything is upside down, backwards, inside out and lost in space. For
any thinking, truly seeking Christian, America is clearly a bizarre mix of
Disneyland, hell and the Twilight Zone. To survive is to fight hard and brutally.
To survive and be truly effective warriors, God has to strip you of all the
illusions, delusions and teach you to walk with your heart and head in another
Kingdom.
Today, you must fight to keep your priorities clear. Into the gray of
compromise, God calls you to paint life with strong colors - not just black and
white, the colors of truth, but also sunset reds, forest greens, brilliant yellows
and sky blues, the colors of grace. God calls you to break the spell of evil and
delusion and walk out of Disneyland, taking captives with you. In a world where
the Gospel is no longer hated and respected but rather amusing and mocked,
(God-bashing is in) God calls us to an integrity, a nobility, a royalty that
exposes darkness and by its nature demands a strong reaction for or against our
God and Savior Jesus Christ.
Today there is a mass deficit of true servants of Jesus. Those I know who
have crossed Jordan, who have prayed to be used cost what it may, are
overloaded. Why? Supply and demand. The demand for true servants and true
service is far greater than the supply, so the overflow goes to the few who
serve. (Forgive my long explanations. After taking 5 minutes to explain this
theory to a friend, he condensed it to, "So God has a management problem." I
wish I were so brief and clear. But then, I have both sides of this page to fill.)
Then, those who ARE servants are faced with challenges of time, energy and
anointing that are unbelievable, because for so long people's needs have been
unmet by secular psychology, social Christianity and the Band-Aid counseling of
this generation of "care bear" Christians. When servants are called along these
hurting people they realize that they cannot heal with just a nice bunch of words
or a few pat scriptures. "Social servants" quote a verse or two, pat people on
the back and say, "Be warmed and filled" feeling good that they have done their
good deed far the day. Bond Slaves are willing to commit to the person for
Jesus' sake, they dig in for the long haul, they make the person's healing as
important as if it were their own.They cry for them, they weep for them. They
are willing to lose a little sleep if it means bringing the other person into His
rest.They are willing to let their house be a little more empty that His might be
fuller. They are willing to give you their heart, no matter how you hurt them,
so you may receive the love of the Great Heart of God.
I was recently telling some friends about the tremendous increase in
responsibility and work we're facing. Someone joked about being fired, and I
said, "You can't fire me. Slaves have to be killed off or die to quit."
Suddenly the joke becomes a dead-serious revelation. Suddenly I saw so clearly
the difference between a hireling and a shepherd, between a career oriented
professional preacher and a true Jesus-servant, between a social servant and a
Bond Slave of Jesus.
We're always faced with the contradiction, the huge gap between where we are
and where we need to be. The truth is, hidden, selfish motives are something
even the most committed Bond Slaves must keep in check. After all, being
raised in Disneyland means we've been raised on media trash like, "You deserve
the best" and "I'm worth it" (Some have even built churches on these
premises!) But if we're gutsy enough to face the lies, God will deliver us and
make us the true servants He needs. Our greatest enemy is selfishness. It comes
in two forms: Doing nothing unless it's convenient, or the way many churches
have developed, letting the pastor and a few elders do it all while you pay them
10% to do so. "Pastor Cork." We put him at the top and we remain bottled
up until out of frustration we blow the cork out (usually into another job) and
the people just lose their fizz! Funny, how Monday morning commentators set
up the heroes then shoot them down for failing to meet our expectations.
In God's true order, pastors and leaders are not elevated heroes but just
servants. And the purpose of service is to mature other servants. The problem
is, most of us don't WANT to be servants. We want to pay PASTOR to serve!!
Part of the reason leaders are stressed out, burned out, fed up and sometimes
even quit is because they are doing the work that should be done by ALL the
people. It's time for God's people to stop playing "poor, weak little lambie me,
helllp meee!", stop expecting others to wait on you and please you, grow up and
start serving! Technically, according to Acts, leaders should be giving themselves
to the Word and prayer. That's their primary job. For the church to grow, for
the Good News to spread, you must relinquish your padded pew privileges and
DO IT! If you're willing, here's a few guidelines to help you exit Disneyland and
enter the real battle, helping you to see the difference between social servants
and Bond Slaves.
1. Social servants say, What's in this for ME?" Bond slaves say, "What can I
give?"
2. Social servants say, "I'll do it if it's convenient." Bond Slaves say, "I'll go
when God calls, convenient or not.
3. Social servants say, "Why should I do it? No one else volunteered!" Bond
servants say, "No one else volunteered, that's why I'll do it."
4. When the going gets tough, social servants get going - far, far away, and
FAST.
5. Social servants become "cruisematics" - when a church "stops meeting their
needs" they move on to get fat and lazy elsewhere. A Bond Servant, when their
needs stop being met, realize they have what they need and they start meeting
OTHERS' needs, right where they are.
6. A social servant excuses self, blames others for failures and lack of
involvement.A Bond Servant says, "Search ME, O God" and "Create in ME a
clean heart."
7. A social servant is blind to their own faults, but considers themselves an
excellent judge of the faults of others. A Bond Servant realizes they are
responsible that they themselves walk uprightly, and should they see a fault in
others, it has been shown by God so they may PRAY for them or lovingly
correct them if necessary.
8. A Social servant does the minimum required to get by while making every
effort to receive the maximum credit for the job done. A Bond Servant EXCELS
in ALL things, especially serving, and if possible without getting attention or
praise for it, for they do it to love Jesus.
9. You have to drag, bribe or draft a social servant into battle. You have
to kill a Bond Servant to get the sword out of their hand.
10. Social servants are "excitement addicts" who attach themselves to new
and exciting works of God, pledging their loyalty, until things get boring or
costly, and they move on quite quickly, searching for the next "fix". The Bond
Servant MUST serve. They are grateful to be chosen to serve. Excitement or
not, they serve steadily and consistently. Social servants plant a tree and get
mad if there's no fruit in a week. Bond Servants know that good fruit takes
time, lots of water and sunshine, and even if no fruit is seen soon, it may just
mean the roots are going deeper down.
As time passes, the fruit of the heart becomes known. A social servant
becomes increasingly meaner, prouder, more petty, selfish, critical and
eventually bitter, lonely, empty and barren. But a Bond Servant becomes the
Living Tree of the fruit of the Spirit: kind, selfless, constructive, sweet, full of
love and greatly blessed.
You can remain a social servant. You'll get to heaven empty-handed. You can
expect, claim and demand blessings. But at the end, you'll know what Jesus
meant by, "They have their reward already." Even here, you will understand the
stark pain of Psalm 108:15: "God granted their requests but sent leanness into
their souls." And you will never understand the true blessings only Bond
Servants know: To enjoy God's friendship; to know God is trusting YOU; to
have God share with you His secrets, His heart, His longings and burdens; to be
so confident of God's favor that you dare to speak the truth in love without
fear of being disliked or rejected (social servants are trained in flattery); to be
blessed with lifelong relationships with other Bond Servants that time, distance
and circumstance does not dim; to have your capacity to love be ever expanded,
deepened, enriched, and finally, to know God's "thank you" far letting Him love
through you!
You may not measure up. Few do. We're not there yet, but like Paul, we
don't consider ourselves to have arrived, but we press toward the high calling.
But you're willing! As you grow in grace and understanding of these things, you
will see changes that assure you that you're getting there. You start thinking of
others' needs more than your own. You actually go out of your way to comfort
and be a friend. You begin to feel others' pain. Your prayers are less
you-centered, more for others, and just praying to bless God and love Him. You
even start losing sleep praying for others. Instead of trying to got others to
meet your needs, you're beginning to lead others to, and back to Jesus. You no
longer need to be asked or bribed to help, you do it with joy. You're no longer
asking to be a better Christian (which is often disguised selfishness - you know,
if I'm more holy, I'll get my prayer answered and people will think highly of
me) - but rather asking to be a better servant, by which being a better Christian
is produced. Your priorities become His - heal the sick - take care of the
oppressed and orphaned and widowed -seek justice and extend mercy.
May God give you the grace to understand and obey. Goodbye, Disneyland.
Welcome to the real world.