All it takes is a quick trip to the local Christian book store to see the number of publications that claim you can become an obedient servant and experience God’s blessings on your life. At one point in my own Christian walk and while going through my own personal struggles and crises of faith, I admit that I did buy one of those books. Although the author meant well when writing the book, within its pages were the claims that if we say a certain prayer, do certain deeds, and attended church regularly, then I would be an obedient servant of Christ. While I will not say that the entire book was wrong, a one-size-fits all approach does not work because we are all not called into the same area of Christian service.
One of the saddest yet most interesting things that I study as a part of my job is the role of religion within the ancient societies and within the United States. It fascinates both myself and college students to learn how far many people will go to prove their love and adoration of certain deities, or even within certain Christian denominations. To show their obedience, some faiths require that some great feat be performed or that the believer must give a great sacrifice, sometimes of wealth, sometimes of self-denial, and sometimes even a human sacrifice is required. It is only within Judaism and true biblical Christianity where we see God tell us: Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? (Micah 6:6-8). Jesus even simplified this during His earthly ministry as he told the disciples and all who were around that day, If ye love me, keep my commandments (John 14:15).
The apostle Paul understood the simplicity and the beauty of what our relationship of Christ is to be like. Paul referred to himself as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ; he chose to use the relationship of being a servant of Christ because during the lifetime of Jesus and the apostles, servitude for debt was a common practice and one of the main ways that Jews fell into the role of being a servant. Paul considered himself owing a debt to Christ for which he could never repay, as all Christians do.
Becoming a servant of Christ
There are many things that we can learn about this relationship we have with the Lord. Our status as a servant of Christ must be a status that we choose for ourselves. God desires that we serve Him as an exercise of our own free will. Throughout the times of the Old Testament and throughout the New Testament, God has clearly taught that all people have to make a choice – to both serve and love God with all our heart or to reject Him. Jesus told Nicodemus, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:16-18). Jesus is reiterating what He had already told the Hebrew people during the Exodus from Egypt: I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live (Deuteronomy 30:19). The beginning of being an obedient servant of Christ starts here with this decision. You either choose to follow Him or you reject Him. Joshua, the man who would take on the leadership of Israel after the death of Moses, put it best: And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD (Joshua 24:15).
As a Christian, we willingly put ourselves into the position as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ when we accept Him as our Savior. The very nature of the personal relationship that we share with the Lord should cause a desire within us to be an obedient servant of Christ. Within the Old Testament, there was a provision made for servants that wished to stay with their master even after their indebtedness had been repaid: And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee; because he loveth thee and thine house, because he is well with thee; 17Then thou shalt take an aul, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise. 18It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou sendest him away free from thee; for he hath been worth a double hired servant to thee, in serving thee six years: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest (Deuteronomy 15:16-18). Our obedience to God must come from our own love for the Lord and not because we feel that we have to. Just as the passage in Micah teaches, when we are obedient to God out of our love for him our obedience makes us valuable to God. Although God does not use an awl to punch our ear, he does bless us and set us apart for Himself. We become a servant that is close to God’s own heart.
