What Is Your Role?

​Imagine being hired as a household servant for a family.  That being the case, you understand your sole purpose for being there is to serve them and to meet their needs, to do their bidding, to do whatever they ask of you that will make their life more comfortable and bring them joy and happiness.  And if you wanted to be the best household servant you could possibly be, you would not only do the things they ask of you, but you would go above and beyond.  At night you might place their slippers next to their bed, so they are there ready for them in the morning.  You would learn how they take their coffee and have it ready for them when they wake up. Over time you might learn what their favorite snacks and treats are so you’re sure to have them available in the pantry.  Of course, a household servant being your job, you would never complain or be upset by the fact that no one ever brings you coffee, no one ever places your slippers next to your bed, no one cares what your favorite treats and snacks are.  You would not be upset that no one cares to serve you.  Why?  You’re the servant.  You are there to serve THEM.  In John 13 we are given the story of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet.  This is the task that would normally be performed by a hired servant.  Of course, Jesus and the disciples not having any hired servants of their own, no one took the initiative to do the job.  Jesus did.  He got up from the table, wrapped a towel around his waist, took a bowl of water, and began to wash each of the disciple’s’ feet.  He then said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you. You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.  If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.  For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.  Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.”  Teaching his disciples this same point in Matthew 20, Jesus will say to them, “whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (vv.26-28).  Jesus, the Son of God, came as a servant and not to be served, and he calls us to do the same.  Imagine what the church would look and function like if every Christian saw himself or herself solely as a servant to everyone else, if we each understood that serving others is our role and our purpose for being in the church.  Imagine what marriages would look like if husbands and wives each saw themselves solely and entirely as household servants, who did not care if they themselves were served, but whose only desire was to serve their family.  If the Son of God came not to be served but to serve, what should that mean for us?