What does it
mean to “serve Christ”? The word “serve”
can mean performing duties or services; it can also mean attending someone as
in serving a meal. The word is used many
times and in many forms in the Bible. If
you have spent any time in the local church, you have been asked to serve God
in some fashion. You may serve God by
teaching a class, singing in the choir, going on a mission trip, feeding the
homeless, or mowing the church yard. And
of course, all these activities are good and needed.
All of us learn
from what we are taught, and more so, from what we have caught! My idea of service, that I gleaned from
watching others, is to do things for God and hope those things are pleasing to
Him. I’ve heard prayers like this,
“Father, I pray our service is pleasing to You.” The focus on this “service” is what I
do. If my heart is in the right place,
then hopefully God will be happy with me.
Paul says in
Romans 14:18, “For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and
approved my men.” (NASB) When I read this verse it seemed to be suggesting the
same old dogma: serve God and you will be acceptable. However, the Greek word for “serves” in this
verse is “douleuo.” It means, “to be a slave,” “to obey,” or “submit to.”
If you owned
slaves, what would you consider to be a great slave? The perfect slave is a slave that does
exactly what the master commands. A disobedient
slave is useless. A slave who loves
their master and has the best of intentions to serve their master by predicting
the master’s needs is equally useless.
The master doesn’t need a slave who goes out there and tries to
anticipate what might please the master.
The master needs an obedient slave that listens first, and then acts.
Serving Christ
is not about you and I doing anything for God.
Because we are new creatures in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), our core desire is
to serve God. So how do we serve Him if
it is not by offering our gifts and talents to Him? Jesus Christ is the only person who has ever lived
the “Christian” life perfectly; no human has ever come close. The scripture tells us we have Christ in us
(Rom. 8:10; Gal. 2:20). Our only hope to
live the Christian life is through Christ.
God is asking us to let Christ live His Life in, with, and through
us.
In every moment
of our life, we must submit to or “douleuo” Christ in us. We don’t have to anticipate what might please
God and then activate our gifts and talents for Him. I believe God appreciates our intentions, but
this kind of service is ultimately useless.
This kind of service is focused on me and what I am doing for God. Does this kind of behavior sound
familiar? The Bible calls it flesh!
Paul says in Galatians 5:13, "For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." "Serve" is the same Greek word. Isn't it interesting that Paul is talking about freedom and serving one another like a slave in the same sentence? Our real freedom doesn't come from what we can do, but rather what He can do through us. That freedom requires us to submit to Christ.
Romans 7:6 says, "But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter." Again, Paul is using the language of slavery to illustrate that true freedom comes from submitting to Christ in relationship. The Law was about obedience to rules that brought a blessing if obeyed and a curse if disobeyed. Our "serve" or submission is in the newness of the Spirit. It is relational, not occupational.
We are designed
to serve Christ. When Christ (Emmanuel)
lived His life here on this earth, He expressed God’s love to those around Him,
those who came in contact with Him. He
did that perfectly! He still has the
same desire now. He has placed His Life
in each of us and wants to continue expressing God’s love to the world. When we submit ourselves to Him in every
moment, we are serving Him. He is able to
express His Life to those with whom we come in contact. Because He is in every believer, He is
connecting with more people everyday than when He walked this earth in the
flesh.
I pray you see
“service” in a new light. Don’t see it
as a duty, but simply an expression of Christ’s Life in you!
