For those of you who missed First Wednesday September, I thought I would post a recap here.

We talked about serving the way Jesus served. True Servanthood is largely misunderstood in the body of Christ. We “think” we serve, but really when the rubber hits the road, we often fall far short of the standard Jesus set. Often without realizing it, we serve ourselves when we think we are serving others.

Here was the text:

Luke 17:7–10 (ESV) “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? 8 Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ ”

If any scripture calls us to true servanthood in the New Testament, this is it. The last line of that scripture must be the heart of what we do in the body of Christ. We are saved by Grace, it is through faith, the gift of God. There is no cause to boast because you never saved yourself. Jesus found you, washed you and forgave you… and now He’s making you holy! Therefore, if God never gave you anything else, if God never blessed you one penny more, please understand, He has already done more than you deserve.

Let’s stop acting as if life owes us anything. And let us never believe that our good works get us ‘in with God’ in any way. We are unworthy servants, we have only done what was our duty.

We need to have the attitude of Christ. Jesus was a servant!

“I am among you as the one who serves” Luke 22:27

He taught us greatness through service:

“Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.” Mark 10:43-44

Paul said in Philippians:

Philippians 2:5–7 (NLT) You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. 6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form,

Translation: In the body of Christ – serving comes standard.

So here’s the three points I want to leave you with. Three ways in which Jesus served and so should we:

POINT 1: A servant is someone who does what they are asked, whether they “feel called” to do it or not.

Please don’t play the “God Card” in serving. Playing the God Card is using “spiritual” Christianese language to get out of doing what you don’t want to do and then conveniently blaming God. “I’m not sure if I’m called to do that.” Or the classic “I’ll pray about it.” Which is Christianese for “No, and God will tell me so in my ‘holy hour of prayer’ {sarcasm}.”

I’m always amazed at how often we play the “God Card” for things WE WANT to do. “I’m feeling the Lord leading me to start a Bible study or teach a class.” Why have I never heard anyone say, “I feel the Lord calling me to feed the hungry or clothe the naked?” Or, “I feel the Lord calling me to park cars or clean up the kids rooms after services.” Why does the God Card rarely get played for things Jesus actually asked us to do?

Maybe we need to stop using the God Card and just be honest – if you don’t want to serve – then just say it, “I don’t want to serve.”… Which brings me to point 2:

POINT 2: A servant is someone who does what they are asked, whether they want to do it or not.

Why do we let our “wants” get in the way of God’s will? Jesus didn’t do that, why should we?

Do you realize that we are saved today because Jesus did something He didn’t WANT to do.

Mark 14:35–36 (ESV) And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36 And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Translation: Jesus did what he didn’t WANT to do to serve the purposes of God in saving us! Jesus was fully God, but He was also fully man and he struggled with putting to death his own desires for the will of the Father.  YET HE OBEYED AND SERVED ANYWAY!

Let’s stop acting like we’re better than Jesus. If He set aside His will for the Father’s plan, why shouldn’t we?

There are going to be many times we don’t WANT to serve others. Many marriages would be healed tremendously if we would stop basing our relationship on what we ‘WANT’ to do. That is, when you don’t want to be nice, BE NICE. When you don’t want to love them, LOVE THEM. When you WANT to ring their neck, don’t!  It’s called maturity. A child is driven by what he wants. An adult has learned to override what they want for the sake of others.

Setting aside your WANTS for the sake of others is the heart of Jesus.

POINT 3: A servant is someone who does what they’re asked even if they are gifted to do something else.

Jesus was gifted in every way. There was nothing He couldn’t do. Yet He gave His life. He set aside His gift of bringing life to bear the pain of death. That is how Jesus served.

So many Christians love to spend time finding “their gifts”.  We take classes, we go to conferences, we do “spiritual gift” assessments to find out what God has gifted us to do. Don’t get me wrong, I believe God has gifted you in some way. But sometimes, people’s needs will not line up with your “gifts.” Don’t let some spiritual assessment survey keep you from helping the guy on the side of the road who needs help. Don’t let your “gifting” keep you from doing what has been asked of you. SERVE SOMEONE!

I think of Joseph, who was gifted with interpreting dreams. But all interpreting dreams got Joseph for 11 years of his life was hatred, a pit and a prison. Then finally, 11 years later, his gift was used to change the world. But listen, all during the time he was waiting for his “gift” to be used again – Joseph served others very well. He served Potiphar and the Prison Warden with all he had.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 says, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with ALL your might” 

Stop waiting for the stars to align and heaven to open giving you a clear “Word from God” to actually do something in Jesus Name!

In the Words of Nike: “JUST DO IT.” Serve when you don’t feel it, want to, or seem gifted for it. That’s the heart of True Servanthood. Because we are unworthy servants, we have only done what was our duty.

That is all.

Amen.