Servanthood: Not Something you Just Do, but a Way of Life

Most people have played Monopoly before or at least have heard of the game. This is often a favorite board game and it is all about you, what you get, acquire, you want to have the most money, the most properties and the most properties with hotels on them—it’s often about taking anything that you can get so you have the most. The game is really about you and what you get…

VIDEO: “It’s all about Me” Click here to watch the video

We live in a self-centered, me-first world (generally speaking). This seems to be naturally and often goes unchecked in our lives. The opposite of the selfishness and self-centeredness is beoing others centered and being aware of the needs people have around us. Being others-centered is responding to the needs of people in our midst, both friend and stranger.

Jesus calls us to have Christ-like compassion—this is something that is a challenge but we all need to think about. When we think of servanthood, we often think of helping others and reaching out—which is all true. Servanthood is often responding to a sign-up to help serve food or build a house,—which is definitely a good thing. I want you to think about servanthood tonight as going beyond yourself and your needs. Servanthood is realizing what is going on with the people around us—both friends and strangers.

Jesus desires for us to see him when we see someone who is sick, hurting or lost. Living the gospel, living Matthew 25 is seeing Christ in our neighbors and REALIZING the needs and RESPONDING to the needs of others.

What if ALL CHRISTIANS lived a life of servanthood—all the time? What if all Christians lived Romans 12:1—“in view of God’s mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship…” Serving others is your spiritual act of worship to God.

SCRIPTURE FOCUS: Matthew 25:31-46—The Parable of the Judgment
This is a parable that Jesus uses to transform the time of waiting for the Son of Man to come—he encourages people to change from useless idleness to emphasizing the importance of others-centered and to care for neighbors in need.

In this parable the community's meantime of waiting for the Son of Man is changed from a useless passage of time to a redefinition of community in the care of the neighbor, and from worry about the "when" of the coming of the Son of Man to the realization that the "when" has already taken place in the face of the need, lost and lonely. Jesus was urging his people to respond to God’s love and impact the lives of others by how they live. Our conversation tonight is not about earning God’s love by how we live, but our conversation is about responding to God’s love by caring for all the people around us. For it is by grace we are saved, not by our works (Ephesians 2:8-10)—there is nothing you can do to earn God’s grace and love.

THINKING ABOUT SERVANT HOOD AS YOUR WAY OF LIFE

• Who do you have the most compassion for? People who are homeless? Sick or disabled? Starving? Elderly? Bullied? Lonely? Prisoners? Refugees?

• How does the world view servanthood or serving? How about your peers?

• What’s easier: serving God or serving others? Why? How are these two related?

• Why is serving others sometimes so difficult?

• Describe someone you know whose life reflects servanthood.