I wondered as I typed that title what conclusions readers might come to. I mean, words we silently detest as Christians are usually anything that falls under the category that the Apostle Paul called, “obscene talk.” (Colossians 3:8)
If we take Scripture at its word, we know that our words should be kind, filled with grace. So when we hear words that aren’t—words that carry malice, hatred, wrath, slander, or defame the name of Christ, we cringe. Sometimes our reactions can be less than gracious, yes?
But those are not the kinds of words I’m talking about.
I was reading Luke 17 the other day where Jesus was talking to His disciples about temptation and forgiveness and faith. His apostles asked him, “Show us how to increase our faith.” I ask God to increase my faith too because the humanness in me doubts—sometimes I doubt myself, but sometimes I doubt my God. You too?
So my ears perked up as I read Jesus’ response to these followers. He said,
“If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and be planted in the sea’, and it would obey you.”
I can’t decide how literal Jesus was being in that statement because I have seen people of great faith and have never seen them toss a tree or a mountain into the sea by faith. But I have seen figurative mountains move when God’s people pray in faith. Some are small mountains, like the size of that mulberry tree, and some are as big as real mountains—the point Jesus used in a different gospel passage.
It is encouraging to know that even the smallest faith in Christ can accomplish great things.
But it is the next part that brought me to the title of this post. Jesus went on to tell his followers a story.
He talked about a servant who plows a field or takes care of his master’s sheep. The tired servant ends his work for the day, but the master doesn’t invite the servant to come and eat with him. Instead the master tells him to prepare his food and then he can eat. Jesus said, “Does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not.” (Luke 17:7-10)
Pause on that a moment. Sounds a little unfair, doesn’t it? I mean, if we apply this to employer/employee relationships, employees want to be noticed and praised for their good work, don’t they? We want to know we’re doing a good job, not just pulling in a paycheck. Well maybe some of us don’t care, but a lot of us do.
But the next part is what sets Jesus words apart from what we typically accept today. You see, today, we like words like, “deserve”, “entitled”, “worthy”, “rights”, “pride”, “self”, “autonomy” and more. We want to be in control of our own world and we think we deserve to have things the way we want them, so we work to make that happen.
Considering the fact that Jesus died to save us from the sin of our unbelief and anything else that so easily entangles us, just so He could be with us—because he loves us—calling His followers “unworthy servants” sounds a little harsh, doesn’t it? Even out of character for the God we think we know.
But Jesus is really good at saying things we don’t like. He had the religious leaders of His day in a snit about his words because He had the audacity to call them hypocrites and white-washed tombs. (I would say those where words those leaders silently detested, wouldn’t you?)
So I imagine the disciples thought they were in pretty good shape because Jesus wasn’t calling them such names.
But He did tell them that their attitudes were wrong (on more than one occasion) and that they ought to consider themselves unworthy servants.
Unworthy. We don’t like that word. We don’t like “humility” either. Or “submission”. Or “obedience”. Or “surrender.” Or “servant”.”
Why should we obey Jesus if He’s going to tell us we don’t deserve anything?
Philippians 2:3-8 tells us:
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
He didn’t count His equality with God His Father as something to cling to. He emptied Himself of His rights, His glory, even His equality as part of the Godhead in order to obey His Father as a lowly servant. Right up to the point of dying on a cross.
So perhaps when we look at those words we silently detest and compare them to the ones we cling to because we want life to be our own way…perhaps we can look to Jesus and realize that He is not asking anything of us that He hasn’t already done for us.
God rewarded Him for His willingness to become a servant and obey His Father.
Philippians 2:9-11 finishes the story with a powerful punch:
“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
If we can lay aside our abhorrence for words that mean we have to let go of our will and surrender it to God’s…if we can see that the words we love are opposite of freedom and lead down a path that won’t end up with the glory Jesus found once He finished His race here…then we can truly see that God has so much more in mind, so much better in mind for us than what we think.
Jesus is never going to change His character for us. He changed His form as God to become human for us. He came to serve us and obey His Father for us. Now it is our turn to change our lives for Him.
One day, if we change the way we see those words that we silently detest, we will find that we will get to share in that powerful glory that Jesus now enjoys in heaven, waiting for us to join Him.
Are we willing to lay aside the entitled, self, autonomous, proud, me-centered thinking and give it to Him?
Can we give up all we own to follow Jesus?
Or will we cling to this world and its inability to permanently satisfy us in any way to avoid the thought of serving Him?
What words will you choose?
#wordswesilentlydetest #humility #pride #surrender #self #obedience #autonomy #worthy #unworthy #servant #slave #free
