Connie Hunter-Urban, author of the book God’s Plan For Our Success, - Nehemiah’s Way, ministered at Calvary this past Sunday night. Although I have been focused on learning more about prayer, it was quite refreshing to hear her minister on Being a Servant. Everything you hear these days is about being a leader. There are leadership classes and books everywhere you look. My office is stacked full of them. When I worked in the secular world, my company constantly had me in leadership training. It has carried over in my ministry, that is, the understanding that we need to raise up leaders who are trained in their callings.
However, there is another area in short supply which Connie brought to my attention — those who know how to serve. So for a few moments I’d like to talk about some of the qualifications for servanthood. What does it take to be a good servant? What does it mean to serve the Lord and one another? Maybe this is an area we take for granted that could benefit greatly from some teaching and training.
Faithfulness
1 Corinthians 4:2 tells us, “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” Although this verse can apply to the trust given to leaders to accomplish their tasks, servants are under assignments also. Paul tells us that anyone on assignment must be faithful to what he is called to do. Faithfulness applies to everything, so it is the first step in being a servant also. Without faithfulness, what can be accomplished? Nothing.
Too often those who serve do it with the wrong basic motivation. This shows up in their inability to follow through to the end and complete their task or assignment. If the job becomes hard, or if they disagree with the instructions, they tend to walk off from the work, or worse yet, they let it fail to make those over them look bad. How often have we heard the words, “I told you it wouldn’t work.” from someone who wouldn’t try.
Proving yourself faithful means completing the assignment you have been given. I remember when Rev. Crank asked me to go to a small church in Cambridge City. There were so many problems, it seemed overwhelming. I learned a lot and hopefully completed the task of paying off the debt and reestablishing the basic groundwork for the church. When Rev. Crank asked me how it was going, he referred to my appointment as Pastor as an assignment. I’ll never forget those words. I had never heard of being assigned to a church. It made me wonder, what exactly does my assignment as Pastor of this church mean?
I then read the book Jesus On Leadership by C. Gene Wilkes. I got a deeper realization of what was expected of me. I found that being in charge was actually being under a charge. Rev. Crank had given me a charge. There were expectations that surrounded that charge. It was not up to me to define what I was doing. It was already defined by the Assemblies of God, by the Indiana District, by Rev. Crank, by the people of the church, by the state of Indiana, and by God himself. Should I choose to become the Pastor of this church and accept this charge, then all of these expectations would apply to me.
Paul restates this in 2 Corinthians 4:5, “For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” It is not ours to define what we do, even leaders are servants to the task they have been assigned.
Loyalty
The second principle behind servanthood is loyalty. Although I can’t cover all the aspects of loyalty in this brief blog, I need to say the main issues concerning loyalty arise during times of disagreement. At Calvary I have begun to recognize when someone disagrees with me — I never see them again. Although we have talked a lot about dealing with offense and settling disputes, still the main way of dealing with things for many people is to disappear from church. I have even seen people who tell you that you are their Pastor and they would take a bullet for you, then if an issue arises, they are in another church the next Sunday telling those same words to another Pastor. This is not servanthood. It borders on betrayal.
I console myself with the thought that most believers do not understand when they are being disloyal. It has even become my expectation that most will not keep their word during times of disagreement. I just let it go and hope for better next time. However, one principle we need to know about loyalty is that it stems from a basic understanding of commitment. Servants know how to make and keep commitments. There is a phrase in Psalms 15:4 about a man who understands commitment. It says he, “keeps his oath even when it hurts.” This is loyalty.
Ability
Natural ability is something often overlooked in servants. There must be an innate ability to do what you are assigned to do. Too many times we are looking for the willing, but do not concern ourselves as to whether they are able or not. I call this the attitude and aptitude principle. As leaders we have to judge not only the willingness, but the ability of those who want to serve. For Pastors, it even means judging their future abilities based on the training they will receive. Not an easy task, and several times we are wrong. However, we must err on the side of safety for the sake of the congregations we serve.
The nice thing about ability is it can progress with experience and training. Servant leaders must insure that the people who serve under them are adequately trained, or we do them, and the ones they serve, a disservice. It’s like building defeat into them and their assignments before they even begin. It has been my experience that people overstate their ability greatly and regularly. The Bible calls this high-mindedness. People will even snarl at you if you question their stated abilities, but the Bible says, “let them first be proved, then let them serve.” (1 Timothy 3:10)
One of the things we must teach servants is to accurately assess their own current abilities. They can get in real trouble if they think they know how to do things, when they do not. Along with the other qualifications of leaders and servants found in 1st Timothy chapter three is a verse that says, “Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.” (1 Timothy 3:6) How often we have seen good, well meaning Christians, stumble over their first assignment because they have not understood the basic teaching that in Christ we are all servants, to him and to one another.
Seeking servants: faithfulness required.