A servant’s stance

Among our life’s work as believers must be growth in faith and obedience to the Father, carrying out our responsibilities in the Kingdom now and the Kingdom Come.  As of now, each of us has opportunity to grow into spiritual maturity through our Sanctification.  We are given responsibilities now to train us, finish and perfect our faith, refining our subsequent works.

In view of our realm of responsibility, consider the means we have available to us to carry out our task.  Jesus taught and showed us by example the actions of a Servant Savior.  In His dealings with the vile, fallen souls He came into contact with, He always showed compassion, truth, and care.  Consider for a moment how we are then to deal with each other and the world as well – aren’t we to show the same as our Lord did?  The answer to this must lie in the same servant stance in our dealings with others, and that this is truly the highest means our Lord would have us to use in our efforts.  Not employing this, we would show impatience, hardness of heart, judgment, lack of compassion, lack of good works, lack of reliance on the Father, and an unwillingness to pour ourselves out for the sake of others – even those who hate us and try to oppose and hurt us.  Perhaps there is a very good reason that the Father has not typically provided us anything that the world would count as powerful, that we might employ such things to propel His Cause.  Experience is teaching me that anything less than a servant’s meekness is inferior when dealing with others I hope to impact.  And perhaps the reason why is best answered by considering Jesus’ earthly ministry and what methods He employed.

Jesus walked among us as a man, and that in itself is a paramount show of His Servant Heart.  But also consider His mission in dealing with persons along the way to the Cross.  Every one of the Elect He came across had resisted Him in sin.  Did He desire that they turn and be Saved?  Did He possess the Knowledge of God?  Did He not have the means to compel anyone to do anything, even for their ‘own good’?  Did He not have everything at His disposal in His Godship and Glory, hidden by Self-restraint in obedience to the Father?  The answer to all of these is of course “yes”.

But Why?  For His Sake?  I submit, for ours, and not specifically that we be Saved, but that we be finally a finished work of His, made for reflecting His Glory and giving worthy service for Him in the Kingdom.  Jesus submitted Himself, fully and perfectly to the Father’s Will, that He would be of greatest Service to Him, and that He would lead us too, by His Perfect example.  If we are to have responsibilities in the Kingdom, we must learn to do so now in total reliance on the Father, learning not to taint His Will or Glory in our attempts to service Him.  Jesus had an endless means available to Him, but He forewent them and instead relied on the Father in faith and prayer, submitting Himself fully for God’s good intent and pleasure.

So too must we, who ascribe to serve well in the Kingdom.  Only true and pure servanthood to another holds any true hope of seeing the Father’s Will be done.  We must not rely on any of our own devices.  We must forgo and slay our own agendas and pride, making way for the Spirit’s direction.  A servant must pour himself out that those served might be most likely to benefit from his effort.  Forcing someone is not efficient, nor is it in the character of our Example.

All of this will work towards the end goal, our Sanctification, ending in Glorification, and for the service to God in His Kingdom, feebly reflected now by any show of faithful service to Him in governing over our responsibilities in this life.  The greatest will be the least; the least will be the greatest.  If any of us aspires to greatness in the Kingdom of Heaven, he must be a servant of his brother.  To learn how to do any of this and become the person the Lord sees us to be, we must forgo the weak tools of control and self-position over others, and instead employ the mighty position of a servant of God, relying on Him to carry out His Work through us.