“So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God.” (1Co 4:1 NIV)
This Scripture says to me that we are witnesses of Christ and have been sent with a specific task. We do not serve our own interests but the interests of Him who sent us.
Today I’d like us to ask two questions…
1. What can I do to be a good witness?
2. What can I do to improve my serve?
May I suggest a few answers that I came up with?
Firstly, I Must Improve My Accuracy
In 1 Sam 15:3-9 we read how King Saul did only some of what he was supposed to do. He attacked the Amalekites and put them to the sword, but he neglected some key details – he spared Agag the king and the best of their cattle and sheep. God was grieved that he had made Saul king and this ultimately resulted in him losing his kingship.
In stark contrast, Moses was very accurate and obedient and built the tabernacle exactly according to the heavenly blueprint. Similarly, a certain disciple named Ananias was also accurate. In obedience, he went to the house of Judas on Straight Street to minister to Saul who had been blinded by God on the road to Damascus. How carefully he listened and how diligent he was to do what God said! As a result, he helped to unlock Saul’s destiny as the apostle to the Gentiles.
There must be accuracy in hearing!
There must be accuracy in doing!
Many of us are enthusiastic but inaccurate. Jesus warns us against this…
Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' (Mat 7:21-23)
Often we are not getting results simply because we are inaccurate.
Bono, the frontman of the famous rock group, U2 says this: “Stop asking God to bless what you are doing. Find out what God is doing ‘cos it’s already blessed”.
Ambassadors must be accurate – they can’t spout their own opinions, but must say only what the country or kingdom they represent wishes them to say. As ambassadors of the Kingdom of God we would do well to remember this. Of course Jesus is our great example. He says this: “For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it.” (John 12:49)
Secondly, I Must Fine Tune My Timing
Sometimes we are doing the right thing at the wrong time. In his desire to fulfil the great commission Paul and his team tried to take the Gospel into Asia and Bithynia, but it seems that the time was not yet right. Fortunately, they were sensitive to the Spirit’s guidance. (Later on however, he did do amazing work in Asia).
Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. (Act 16:6-7)
Here is a saying which rings true with Scripture, “There is nothing as attractive as an idea whose time has come”. Eccl 3:1 says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:”
Jesus arrived when the time had fully come. (See Gal 4:4)
Jesus had a keen sense of timing. Therefore, Jesus told them, "The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come." (Joh 7:6-8)
Jesus died at just the right time. “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” (Ro 5:6)
There is so much in John’s Gospel about timing (See John 4:4, 11:6,9-10, 12:35-36 & 13:1)
Through real life experience I’ve discovered that you can only fly kites when the wind blows.
May I suggest yet another answer…
I Must Purify My Motives and Have a Servant Heart
With God, not only actions, but motives are important. Pr 16:2 says: “All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD.”
Certain motives or heart attitudes will keep us from serving God and others.
For instance, pride won’t serve. Haughty people think to themselves, “Why on earth should I do that, it’s beneath my station!” All the disciples sat with dirty feet at the last supper in this frame of mind. No one was prepared to humble himself and serve the others until Jesus set the example. He took a towel and a bowl of water and knelt to wash their feet. (See John 13:3-17)
Something I’ve also discovered is that insecurity won’t serve. Insecure people easily come up with excuses as to why they can’t serve – they tend to be self-absorbed and focus on their own perceived inadequacies.
By way of contrast, a true sense of identity releases one to serve. Again Jesus is our example. We read in Joh 13:3-4, Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.
Did you notice that Jesus’ keen sense of identity released him to serve? You could say he was secure in his sonship.
Some serve out of drivenness or performance. Driven people are often trying to prove something to themselves or others. They are thinking to themselves, “Look at me people! Do you see what I am doing?” Their sense of affirmation comes from their accomplishments, not from their identity as children of God.
We should remember that service is worship and worship is service. We must perform our worship and our service for an audience of one – God himself! We need to be both wholehearted and focussed in what we do.
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men...” (Col 3:23)
I’d like to list some true motives which we don’t have time to discuss:
− Love of God (compels us, constrains us)
− Compassion of God (stirs us)
− Zeal of God (consumes us)
− Spirit of God (empowers us)
− Grace of God (enables us)
Here’s the bottom line of what I’m trying to say…
The Bottom Line
The Holy Spirit is calling us to lift our game, to improve our serve.
We need to improve our accuracy, fine tune our timing and purify our motives if we wish to serve God and His people effectively.
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