Quite possibly in Jesus’ mind, servanthood was the most important characteristic he wanted to be known by. He wanted to be known as a servant.
Amazing how the One who created all wanted to be the servant of all.
Servanthood is not at the top of any man’s LinkedIn profile. It’s not necessarily the first thing a man thinks of when it comes to how he wants to be thought of. And yet, if Jesus was creating a LinkedIn profile for himself, you would likely see God, Creator of the Universe, Redeemer of the Human Race, right underneath ‘Servant’.
It’s not a characteristic that is to be shunned. It is to be chased, embraced, and cherished. In today’s culture, the pursuit of servanthood (coupled with love) is likely one of the characteristics that would really set you apart as a Christ follower.
But I don’t think servanthood should be thought of as a light switch that you just flick, and suddenly boom, you’re a servant.
I think the one passage that sets up Jesus’ approach to servanthood the best is Philippians 2:1-11.
In a book where Paul is helping believers focus on unity, he shares how togetherness begins with servanthood. And there is no better example of servanthood than the Lord Jesus. In this passage, we see:
Attitude (An Attitude of Selflessness)
Emptying (An Emptying of Rights)
Posture (Posture Towards God)
Identification (Put Yourself in the Shoes of Others)
Subjection (My Goal is to Serve You)
Sacrifice (Saying No to Me for Your Sake)
True, biblical, Christ-like servanthood must incorporate these elements. Putting away chairs in the church when no one else will looks servant-like, but I’m not so sure that it is. In God’s eyes, servanthood is becoming like Jesus in these areas.
The first three qualities mentioned (Attitude, Emptying, Posture) are more behind the scenes – a spiritual look at servanthood between us and God. The last three (identification, Subjection, Sacrifice) are focused on what’s happening around you – a practical look at servanthood between us and others.
You can’t have the final three without the first three – and correctly looking at the first three always results in the final three.
An Attitude of Servanthood Begins with an Attitude of Selflessness
“…did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.” (Phil. 2:6).
Paul is starting Jesus at the top, where he is showing the amazing reality that the lead servant wasn’t just someone special who decided to do nice things for people – Paul is demonstrating the very deity of Christ. This is the seeming paradox that makes this passage so unique: that the Creator would become the chief servant of the creation.
The ESV footnote for this verse is ‘a thing to be held on to for advantage’. Becoming a servant was a choice, a determination that holding on to what He had with the Father as Creator God was not something that he needed to do. His attitude was not one of holding on to what I have to keep ‘me’ and what I ‘have’ intact.
- I don’t have to be a success.
- I don’t have to have my name in lights.
- I don’t have to be professionally recognized.
- I am completely fine with being unknown on this big blue ball called planet earth.
The attitude of selflessness has to be the starting point of this discussion. If you are not willing to let go of ‘you’ you will never morph into the servant God wants you to be.
The caterpillar didn’t want to change! He didn’t want to become anything other than what he was! He didn’t even know what a butterfly was – he just knew he didn’t want to become it.
The attitude of selflessness is a check-up from the neck up. Is your ego in the way of you transforming into what Christ wants?
Jesus emptied himself of his rights as a servant. Read about that next important step, here.