I wondered as I typed that title what conclusions readers might come to. Words we silently detest as Christians usually come under the category of “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 carry malice, hatred, wrath, slander, or defame the name of Christ, we cringe.
But those are not the kinds of words I’m talking about.
In Luke 17, Jesus 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 him 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. Today, we like words like, “deserve”, “entitled”, “worthy”, “rights”, “pride”, “self”, “autonomy” and more. In short, we want control over our life.
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 h
ypocrites and white-washed tombs. (I would say those were 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, and obeyed His Father like a lowly servant. Right up to the point of dying on a cross.
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 will and surrender it to God’s…if we can see that the words we love are opposite of freedom…then we can truly see that God has so much better in mind for us than what we think.
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 our imagined sense of control?
What words will you choose?
#wordswesilentlydetest #humility #pride #surrender #self #obedience #autonomy #worthy #unworthy #servant #slave #free
