Defining the Servant

Understanding Servanthood
Today’s Focus: Defining the Servant
Scripture: Matthew 25:14-30; 2 Peter 1;4; Acts 6:1-6;

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
Now we said that in 2 Peter 1:4 that we are to be partakers of the divine nature and part of the divine nature is servanthood. Every citizen of the Kingdom of God must adopt the principal of servanthood. No longer are you members of some organized club, religion or denomination, but you are sons of God (Ephesians 4:19,20). The desire of the sons of God is not to take over lands but to produce and mature sons and perpetuate the Will of God through the ages of time. When we look back at many of the parables Jesus spoke, He spoke of a servant managing a house. Just like in the sacraments we can see the heart and principal of servanthood that God has called us to be as His sons. Look at it from this perspective:

There was the Kingdom parable of the buried talents (Matthew 25:14-30). In verse 14 it makes a reference that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man travelling into a far country (Earth), who called HIS OWN SERVANTS (SONS OF GOD) AND DELIVERED UNTO THEM HIS GOODS. Now when God begins to make the servants give an account of what they did (stewardship or manage) to the servants that managed what was given to them well, the Lord said this:

Matthew 25:21: His Lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful SERVANT: thou has been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.

Notice in the words the Lord uses. He refers the sons of God as servants and please do not try to theologically diminish this title of servant. You are called to be a son but in being a son you must become a servant because your Father is also a servant at heart. We must learn to labor in the dust and not be afraid to get dirty serving others. Some people call this the ministry of the deacon. The word deacon is first seen in scripture in 1 Timothy 3:10 where Paul is explaining the qualifications of a deacon but in Acts 6:1-6 we see the first appointment of deacons to ministry by the apostles. The word deacon in Greek is diakoneo and it means this:

Deacon: To be an attendant that is to wait upon or to serve.

Now in understanding the role of the deacon, if we study apostolic ministry we will also see that the apostles were deacons also. See, we have minimized and diminished the role of the deacon. However, all of us must labor by serving. Now we do not serve unto man, but unto God. None of us are called to be slaves to man. This is why the human spirit rebels against oppression by another human spirit. The only person the spirit will respond to from the position of slave or servant is the Spirit of God. We are all called to be slaves unto the living God.

In the next message we will look at the objective of servanthood.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.