Your Mission: To Serve
“The gospel…of which I, Paul, have become a servant.” Col 1:23 NIV
Who am I? What’s my calling? The apostle Paul, who considered himself “not in the least inferior to the most eminent apostles” (2Co 11:5 NAS), answers simply: “I am Paul. My role is serving. I am a servant to the gospel and the body of Christ.” Certain folks in the early church tried to determine which of the apostles were the greatest. Some claimed Paul, and others Apollos. But Paul challenged them, “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe” (1Co 3:5 NIV). Whatever your calling, be it pastor of a megachurch or a lay member, you’re no more—and no less—than a servant. In God’s kingdom class distinctions don’t count. “There is neither Jew nor Greek…slave nor free man…male nor female…you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28 NAS). We’re servants called to do the will of God wherever He appoints us to serve. And that’s a good thing! In being a servant there’s relief from “the pressure to perform.” No one has the right to judge you except your Master. “Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls” (Ro 14:4 NAS). We should be concerned about what pleases God, not people. He alone can evaluate our service. Jesus came to serve His Father, saying, “I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me” (Jn 5:30). And He has also sent you to do God’s will, promising that, “If any man serve me, him will my Father honour” (Jn 12:26).
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