Are You a Servant or A Spectator?

Have you ever told a lie at church?! I don’t mean to offend you, but somebody observed that at church we can sing a lie as easily as we can tell one. So if you object to the question about telling a lie at church, allow me to re-phrase the question and ask, "Do you ever sing a lie down at church?" For instance, we sing "Oh How I Love Jesus" when in reality some would be more honest if they would just sing, "Oh How I Like Jesus." And we sing "I Surrender All" when really we surrender only some, and maybe only just a little dab. And there is the song by Asa C. Palmer "Ready to Suffer." The chorus says, "Ready to go or ready to stay, Ready my place to fill; Ready for service, lowly or great, Ready to do His will." Focus on the phrase, "Ready for service, lowly or great." What do you mean when you sing that song? Are you, in the words of the first verse of that song, "Ready to suffer grief or pain, Ready to stand the test"? It is not that difficult to find people who are ready and willing to suffer pain and serve for athletic glory ... political glory ... military glory ... financial / business glory ... even social or scientific glory (think about space explorers, etc.). But are you ready to suffer and serve, or even be inconvenienced to do God’s will and serve Jesus Christ in the church?



Matthew 20:20-27 records a time when Jesus rebuked James and John and their mother [see Mark 1:19] for their misguided ambition. They wanted to be close to Jesus – not a bad thing – on His right hand and on His left in His kingdom! They had no idea what they were asking (verse 22), but to their credit they recognized Jesus was King and they were eager and willing to be involved in His kingdom! After reminding them that greatness in God’s service is measured not by how many serve us but by whether or not we serve (verses 25-27), Jesus concludes His efforts to re-wire their thinking about greatness and service with these sobering and challenging words – " just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (vs 28). Many in the church would do well to read and re-read and re-read that statement. God-come-in-flesh as a Man showed up one time here on Planet Earth where the name of the game is dog-eat-dog and climb and claw and compete and coerce your way to the top by hook or crook. And when He showed up He didn’t come as a show-man or a celebrity. He came as a servant. When it came to saving our souls, He was ready to go. Once on the cross, He was willing to stay. He proved ready for service, lowly service, for what could ever be more lowly than for God-in-the-flesh to end up with spit on His face, His heart broken, and His body fastened to a rough Roman cross with metal spikes? Yes, yes, yes – He proved ready to suffer grief or pain and ready to stand the test. The greatest threat to the well-being of the church of the Lord in general and our congregation in particular is when church members demand a padded cross to go along with the padded pews; a comfy cross that demands no sacrifice and / or discomfort; a convenient cross that allows Christians to be spectators in the church who see the "ministry" and "ministering" as some- thing paid preachers and professional staff are supposed to do. Do you really want to follow Jesus and be like Him? Then quit just "coming to church" and being a spectator, and get busy serving. Think about it.

  – Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN