Part of the Family By Ron Grubb

Last week I began the conversation on why Jesus came as a servant instead of a King. I mentioned that it seems to me that every believer is born into Christ’s eternal family with at least four important family responsibilities. I began in last week’s blog with the idea that every believer is inescapably A Steward and A Manager. Now I want to talk about the final two; A Servant and A Worshipper.

Four job descriptions every Christ-follower must fulfill.
A Steward
A Manager
A Servant
A Worshipper
This week we consider A Servant and A Worshipper.

A Servant: We are all empowered by His Spirit to become part of a unified effort to assure His glorification (maximum credit, appreciation, recognition and adulation for who He is and what He is; “I AM”). In order for God to be properly glorified, his creation including humans must recognize our subjugation to Him.

Matthew 20:25-28;
(25) Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.
(26) Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,
(27) and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—
(28) just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

The primary key that unlocks that effort is found in the de-glorification of ourselves as individuals, to the point that it positions our heart (our mind-set, motivation, wills) to become God-serving and not self or man-serving. As servant-people then, we find tremendous encouragement through our collaborative efforts to bring glory to God. That encouragement is amplified then as God, being glorified by his people provides us, his servants the benefit of dwelling with Him in that environment of glory (the glory offered to God by our service). This remarkable environment of God’s glory becomes a strong motivation for us as His servants, and an opulent, even priceless reward for our unflinching servitude to Him. This servant-induced glory to God is the “normal” atmosphere of Heaven and as much as that environment can reproduced on Earth it fulfills Christ’s prayer that asks for God’s will to be done on Earth as in Heaven.

A Worshipper: First let’s consider what position we must assume before we can worship God. In order for worship to take place there must be a lesser being who esteems a greater being. Acceptable worship of God is limited to those beings whose natural inclination toward God is humble and completely certain of God’s supremacy in every regard. On the other hand, God may compliment man, endorse man and even redeem man from our sin but would never worship man. However, the only thing a believer may offer God is worship. No gift we may bring will qualify beyond our worship. We are created by Him and we can create nothing of ourselves, we only steward those things which God has created. So for us to approach him with some “thing” in our hands becomes humorously obvious that we are offering to give him something he already owns. Like a child offering his father a gift that the father himself provided; the father’s heart may be moved but it isn’t because the child is offering him an item…but because the child is offering something of himself. Just so, is our personal service offered to God by giving ourselves to serve others; or in cooperation with others, for the purpose of glorifying God; that service becomes acceptable worship to God. Whether these acts of worship are by an individual or a collaborative effort, as long as the purpose and motivation is to honor God and advance the Kingdom of Christ: it is proper and acceptable worship.

Romans 12:1; Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.

Regardless of our position socially or financially; regardless of our capabilities and our handicaps, we all are entrusted by our Lord to be His Stewards, His Managers, His Servants and His Worshippers.