Who We Are: Servants
by Justin Emerson
Do you want to be great? What comes to mind when you think of greatness?
For most people, their idea of greatness is built upon what they see in the world: wealth, status, honor, easy living, big houses, nice cars, etc.
Maybe greatness means being the best at something, like sports, having great craftsman skills, or having a lot of knowledge.
For some people, it is having tons of followers on TikTok and Instagram.
But what if I told you greatness does not equate to any of those things?
What if the world around us has been telling us what greatness is but has it all wrong? Now I’m not saying that those things are bad, but what if we are missing something extremely important. What if the life we’ve been given has much greater purpose than our definition of greatness and our own means to achieve happiness and comfort? What if true greatness brings happiness and joy that lasts?
The Disciples Misunderstand Greatness
To answer the questions above, I would like to look at Mark 10:35-45. Try to imagine this setting!
Ever since sin entered the world through Adam and Eve, the world had been looking to find a redeemer from sin and brokenness. They tried for generations to obtain greatness, build kingdoms, expand their domain. So fast forward generations later, the Jews living around 2000 years ago knew of the prophecies of the coming Messiah and that he would sit on the throne of David and rule and reign on the earth.
Jesus the Messiah was born and after 30 years he began his ministry on earth. Jesus gathered his disciples and traveled all across Israel. The disciples’ thought instinctively that Jesus would gather followers, raise an army, and lead Israel to victory over the Roman empire. The disciples were looking for an earthly King to sit upon the throne of David as prophesied, but as we will see here in a moment, that is not the plan Jesus had in mind.
35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38 Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39 And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” 41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. 42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:35-45)
Can you imagine James and John? The disciples knew that if Jesus was King on the earth, they (being his closest friends), would rule and reign with him. They wanted to share in the greatness and glory, but not necessarily because of Jesus. The way they thought was exactly how the rest of the world thought of greatness. They saw Jesus as a means to fulfill their end goal – earthly greatness through the places of power and authority.
But in the text we read, Jesus defines what greatness is! What does he tell the disciples?
But whoever would be great among you must be your servant.
Being a servant = greatness
This must have been shell-shocking for the disciples to be told that they were wrong! All of their attempts to be great and experience the rewards of greatness were misguided, and in fact, not what God envisioned at all. Sinful even!
The heart of this blog is this: serving right where you are flows out of a heart of love and gratitude for Jesus.
At New City, we often talk about Gospel identities – family, missionary, and lastly, servant. God’s design from the start of creation is that we would bear the image of Christ and be like Him on the earth. So if Jesus equates greatness with being a servant, what does that mean for us, His disciples? Also, what exactly does it mean to be a servant?
Martha Misunderstands Service
There is a story in the Bible about Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus. This story is one of my favorites. Here, we see two completely different examples of serving and how we often respond.
38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42)
What was Martha doing?
What was Mary doing?
What was Jesus doing?
Luke writes that Martha was distracted with much serving. Imagine being around someone who is frantically moving about in a room and who cannot sit still because they are in so much inner turmoil. Now this story does say for sure what Martha’s motives were, but I’d like to suggest a few examples that could have been true for her.
Word of Jesus had spread all throughout the land, so to have Jesus in her home was a huge deal. Maybe she felt inadequate and that she had nothing to give. Maybe she felt that she had to earn Jesus’ attention through serving Him. Maybe she was convinced that if Jesus noticed her, she could feel honored in front of her sister (who she was apparently upset with!)
This much is true, and just like you and me, we use acts of service as a means to an end. What I mean is this - we had an end goal in mind to bring us a measure of satisfaction that we think will last. We formulate a plan to get what we want. We work out our equations and put our plan into action.
The truth is, just like Martha, we are often distracted with much serving.
What about Mary?
But Mary chose the good portion! What was she doing?
Sitting at His feet and listening to His words.
There is a lot we could gather from Mary. I believe she loved Jesus, truly captivated by Him. No amount of serving could earn the affection of His gaze.
She didn’t have to serve, because she knew that the one who was before her was the true Servant. He came to lay down His life for the ransom of many. What was left to prove? You see, Jesus knew what the good portion was, and Mary chose it. She chose, first and foremost, to let the nearness of Jesus change her heart.
What does that mean? How does this relate to serving?
Without being close to Jesus, we use serving as a means to an end. Serving in this way is self-focused, and the heart behind the action does not really care about anything else except getting what you want. In reality, once we get what we wanted, we often find that it does not bring lasting joy or satisfaction.
This plays out around us too - our relationships are often inward-focused, using people to get what we want. We focus our attention on those who benefit us in some fashion. The disciples did that, remember! They thought, “If you were King, Jesus, let me sit at your left and right!” Places of honor. But it is when we sit at His feet and listen to His words (when we choose to spend our attention and affections on Jesus), serving actually switches from an act of doing to inward being!
Why is that the case? Because we were MADE for this! We were made for God for the purpose of relationship. We were made to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. You see, Mary chose this portion. She chose to believe that what Jesus had to say was infinitely better than what she could have found elsewhere. She chose to believe that sitting in His presence was better than trying to earn recognition or acceptance from Him. She chose greatness that lasts – serving the one whose name is above every name on Earth!
The True Servant
We can’t talk about serving without seeing what Christ has done for us and how he lived as a servant. For that, we will wrap up in Philippians 2.
2 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,[a] 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,[b] 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,[c] being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:2-11)
Jesus, being a servant, had this mindset:
He did nothing from selfish ambition or conceit.
In humility, He counted others more significant than Himself.
He looked to the interests of others.
He emptied himself and became a servant.
He took on flesh.
He obeyed to the point of death, even death on a cross.
The heart of a servant, as Paul said, flows from this mindset.
So if we are to serve to like Jesus, we have to see that our identity as servants has everything to do with who Jesus is and what He has done! Jesus tells his disciples that a servant is not greater than his master. This is true, and you and I are called to go and be like Him!
Being a servant flows out of a heart that is connected with Jesus. All Jesus requires of us is to sit at his feet and listen to His words and learn His ways. Through our relationship and the tuning of our affections, His Spirit will lead us and guide us into being a blessing to those around us! Servants serve, not as a means to an end, but because we have been served in every way by our Father through Jesus Christ our Lord.