But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 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 10:43-45
I have had my eyes drawn away from this truth for sometime now and it has led to personal discontent. When you seek attention for yourself, you will certainly become dissatisfied in ministry because ministry is all about serving others. No one celebrates servants. They work behind the scenes. They die behind the scenes. They simply serve. The problem is that evangelicals can't seem to stop creating their own celebrity culture from the servants who lead them. Nancy Pearcey has done an incredible job of documenting this evangelical history beginning with the Great Awakening. Read "Total Truth" for her expert analysis of the past 250 years of this phenomena. George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards were just the start of the celebrity culture among Evangelicals. Evangelicals in America and England began making superstars of their leaders much to the disdain of passages such as this one. That does not mean that every famous preacher is a prima donna. It does mean that the Body of Christ can get its focus off of Jesus.
The problem I have is that I crave the attention that such expectations create. And I should not. What's more, God has placed me in a VERY SUBSERVIENT role. I am an "associate pastor". I get increasingly introduced as such, and most people see that as sort of an internship for the "Real Thing" rather than an important ministry in and of itself. Just this weekend when I was introduced as such at a function in which my ministry partner, the senior pastor of the church, was in attendance, someone condescendingly said something like, "It must be great to apprentice under him. You must be learning a lot". Part of me wanted to interrupt with the fact that we have been good friends for a quarter of a century and see ourselves as partners. We have nearly identical education and experience. But I bit my tongue because it was not the place. I let the misperception continue for this person becasue it would have been too difficult to correct it in the awkward setting. But the second fiddle position will probably always be misunderstood by most Christians. I once had a person at my own church (where I have served for 11 years now) ask me when I was ready to get my own church! I thought, I am in my church! God put me here to serve.
Lord, Servant means slave. And that is not a pretty word. It means that I serve without recognition, not as an honored member of society, but as the lowliest part of it. And Jesus set the example as slave of all. He came to serve and to give His life. Can I, the slave, be as foolish as to think that I should do less than this? I am slave to a slave. You know my heart's struggle to serve. You know that the church literally shines a spotlight on those who should be Your slaves. It is an odd culture that I must somehow fight to see You restore in Your church. I affirm and submit to Your design of slavery to all. Amen
But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 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 10:43-45
I have had my eyes drawn away from this truth for sometime now and it has led to personal discontent. When you seek attention for yourself, you will certainly become dissatisfied in ministry because ministry is all about serving others. No one celebrates servants. They work behind the scenes. They die behind the scenes. They simply serve. The problem is that evangelicals can't seem to stop creating their own celebrity culture from the servants who lead them. Nancy Pearcey has done an incredible job of documenting this evangelical history beginning with the Great Awakening. Read "Total Truth" for her expert analysis of the past 250 years of this phenomena. George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards were just the start of the celebrity culture among Evangelicals. Evangelicals in America and England began making superstars of their leaders much to the disdain of passages such as this one. That does not mean that every famous preacher is a prima donna. It does mean that the Body of Christ can get its focus off of Jesus.
The problem I have is that I crave the attention that such expectations create. And I should not. What's more, God has placed me in a VERY SUBSERVIENT role. I am an "associate pastor". I get increasingly introduced as such, and most people see that as sort of an internship for the "Real Thing" rather than an important ministry in and of itself. Just this weekend when I was introduced as such at a function in which my ministry partner, the senior pastor of the church, was in attendance, someone condescendingly said something like, "It must be great to apprentice under him. You must be learning a lot". Part of me wanted to interrupt with the fact that we have been good friends for a quarter of a century and see ourselves as partners. We have nearly identical education and experience. But I bit my tongue because it was not the place. I let the misperception continue for this person becasue it would have been too difficult to correct it in the awkward setting. But the second fiddle position will probably always be misunderstood by most Christians. I once had a person at my own church (where I have served for 11 years now) ask me when I was ready to get my own church! I thought, I am in my church! God put me here to serve.
Lord, Servant means slave. And that is not a pretty word. It means that I serve without recognition, not as an honored member of society, but as the lowliest part of it. And Jesus set the example as slave of all. He came to serve and to give His life. Can I, the slave, be as foolish as to think that I should do less than this? I am slave to a slave. You know my heart's struggle to serve. You know that the church literally shines a spotlight on those who should be Your slaves. It is an odd culture that I must somehow fight to see You restore in Your church. I affirm and submit to Your design of slavery to all. Amen
