Servants and More
Introduction
The Netflix series “The Family” is about the influence of a secretive Christian group in Washington. Whilst their wonderful motto is “Jesus plus nothing.” in practice it seems to be “Jesus plus power.” They run the annual multi event National Prayer Breakfast, 3,500 guests from over 100 countries from the political, social, and business elite. They love David, who despite adultery and murder retained the favour of God for he was chosen for power. What they seem to neglect, with many others, is that from the time of the Bathsheba incident David’s life was hellish – the death of his baby, Tamar’s rape, Amnon’s murder, Absalom’s rebellion and death, Sheba’s rebellion, divinely sent plague (2 Sam 12-24). Power misused intensifies divine discipline (cf. Rev 3:19). Few Christians seem to appreciate the gravity of this reality, maybe because we are intoxicated by the glamour of influence! So when I heard at Perth Prayer about weekly prayer in the P.M.’s office I was rather less excited than others. I haven’t yet seen Scomo’s Pentecostalism making any difference to his policies. Every PM after Julia Gillard has claimed to be a Christian and the nation has become less godly over those years! A few ideas formed as we prayed about why this may be.
Learning from the Baptist
Jesus gave John the highest possible commendation. ““I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John.”” (Luke 7:28). John’s greatness was certainly because he was the prophet during whose lifetime the Messiah came, but there’s another feature of John’s life in which we can all share. Knowing the status of the Lamb of God (John 1:29) the Baptist was free from ordinary human comparisons. When his disciples worriedly informed him that everyone was going to Jesus for baptism, John replied with joy, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”” (John 3:25-30). Unlike the church/denominational branding and franchising of our day, John understood that his ministry was a share in the ministry of the Son of God. Even more profoundly, when eager crowds wondered whether he was the Messiah, John answered ““I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Luke 3:16). The greatest man ever born reckoned he couldn’t get lowly enough to serve his Lord. Even accepting the status of a slave was too high a position to appropriately honour Jesus. But in comparison Jesus said, ““Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than John.”” (Luke 7:28). Following Jesus’ humble obedience to the cross (Phil 2:8) Christians are empowered to be even lowlier than John. This is the distinguishing mark of true greatness before God. Something the apostles painfully learned.
Learning from Apostolic Leaders
Before the death and resurrection of Jesus the 12 had argued about “who was the greatest” (Mark 9:34), but by the early chapters of Acts their disposition had been revolutionised. This is how the power brokers who had assassinated Jesus, perceived them: “when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13). There was nothing spectacular about the apostolic demeanour, other than that they were working miracles as friends of Jesus. Which Jesus? Obviously, the Lord Jesus; but these foundational chapters of Acts contain a vital key for the state of Christian leadership. It is found in the prayers of the early Church.
““in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed…Herod and…Pilate…Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your …plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord…30 …stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”” (Acts 4:27-30). Overcome by a vision of Jesus as a holy servant the chief apostles with all their “friends” (Acts 4:23) had together become servants through whom the power of God moved greatly. Deeds of power moved regularly through their hands (Acts 5:12). What does this mean for the Church today?
A Lifting Up
In the Spirit I can see the Lord raising up a generation of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, for inner and extra Church ministry, who will be totally dedicated to serve others by lifting them up. These in turn will lift others up, lift them up off the streets, lift people with broken minds, bodies, hearts and souls, a lifting up Christwards all across our city. When this extreme servanthood is manifest non-Christians will see something more than an “ordinary” church activity, they will recognise we have been with Jesus. It is only by functioning at this level that “Jesus plus nothing” can come true. What others will see is something naturally incomprehensible, they will witness that we have become more than servants, we are friends of God.
More than Servants
“Servants of the Most High God” sounds like a high complement about us, but it appears twice only in scripture, once on the lips of the pagan Nebuchadnezzar and the other time voiced by a demon, who is subsequently expelled as a distractor (Dan 3:26; 16:17). Jesus, one with God Most High, promised us, “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” (John 15:15). To be a friend of God was a title once restricted to the great patriarch Abraham (2 Chron 20:7; Isa 41:8; James 2:23) but now fits the lowliest Christian. Sadly, I have seen many friends of God trying to climb up the ladder of church favour by starting at the “bottom”, ushering, car park duty etc., not realising that in Christ the bottom is the top. For when Jesus said the “first” would be “least of all” he was simply giving a resume of his own humble existence (Mark 9:35; Phil 2:5ff.).
Conclusion
It was because John the Baptist was Spirit-filled from conception (Luke 1:15) that he had the power to place himself beneath the sandals of Jesus. Only the spiritual potency of the Holy Spirit can take our proud fleshly nature this low. It’s easy to ask God for signs and wonders, but unlike the apostolic pray-ers we will not be heard until we like them understand what it means to be lowly servants. Lowly servants are holy servants who put their hope solely in God, irrespective of who is in The Lodge. I await this hour with anticipation.