Leader or Servant of God?
Servants of God, when faced with the accolades of men, must resist the temptation to accept a place of leadership within any group, organization, or fellowship that would compromise their devotion to God Himself. (Matthew 21:33-43)
Joshua’s Transformation
“And it happened, when Joshua was beside Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked. And, behold! A Man stood in front of him, and His drawn sword was in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, Are You for us, or for our foes? And He said, No, for I now come as the Commander of the army of Jehovah. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped. And he said to Him, What does my Lord speak to His slave? And the Commander of the army of Jehovah said to Joshua, Take your shoe off your foot, for the place on which you are standing is holy. And Joshua did so.”
Joshua 5:13-15 (LITV) note the capitalization of Him and His
This encounter changed Joshua from merely being the leader of Israel to a servant of God. Without this critical transformation, we are incapable of ministering wholeheartedly unto the Lord. The stain of self will corrupt our actions and decisions. Vision determines our service, wisdom and effectiveness unto the Lord.
“For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
Galatians 1:10 (ESV)
The true ministers of God must move from having disciples to making disciples; their interactions with others are unto the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Note Joshua’s immediate reaction:
“What does my Lord speak to His slave?”
True servants of God have no agenda of their own in their interactions with God’s people. They are His slaves, as evidenced by their selfless presentation of His person, His Lordship and His Glory. True ministry lives to see “all things” come under His dominion.
“The Church ceases to be a spiritual society
when it is on the lookout for the development of its own organization.”
– Oswald Chambers
To propagate a church, a minister, or anything other than Christ Himself is not the mark of a servant. God-given ministry is to culminate in the “unity of the faith,” not in their own following or church!
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith…”
Ephesians 4:11-13
Unity is the atmosphere of Him, for no flesh can glory in His presence.
God only truly anoints that which is His. Christ IS the Anointed One. My apprehension of His anointing will only be to the measure of my submission to Him. If we fail to receive His corrections, we deny ourselves the privilege of the ministrations of His Spirit and the unfathomable depths of His Word.
“If you turn at My reproof, behold,
I will pour out My Spirit to you;
I will make My words known to you.”
Proverbs 1:23 (ESV)
The distinguishing characteristic of every true disciple is their unwavering devotion to Christ and their passion for the Lordship of Him in the life of every believer.
“Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ…”
“Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ…”
“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ…”
“Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ…”
True Leadership in the Body of Christ can only be known to the depth of their submission to His Will and the exaltation of Jesus Christ.
Related Posts:
Leadership and the New Wineskin
The Eternal Question
Do we aspire to lead men or serve God?
Leader or Servant of God?
“Every day His servants are dying modestly and peacefully — not a word of victory on their lips; but Christ’s deep triumph in their hearts — watching the slow progress of their own decay, and yet so far emancipated from personal anxiety that they are still able to think and plan for others, not knowing that they are doing any great thing. They die, and the world hears nothing of them; and yet theirs was the completest victory.”
— F. W. Robertson.”
Brian Troxel
Will You Take Off Your Clothes?
Matthew 21:7-8 (NKJV) 7 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. 8 And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
I was shown a vision this morning where I saw Jesus seated upon a donkey with the donkey’s lead hanging down waiting for someone to lead Him in. All around the donkey were pastors/ church leaders clothed in very ornate robes yet not one offered to humble themselves by removing his/her robe and lay it down for the donkey carrying Jesus to ride upon. These robe are indicative of social standing, education, etc. .
In 2 Chronicles 7:14 it says if my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray. Note humility being the prerequisite of what follows.
For Jesus to come to a gathering of believers their mist first be a humbling of oneself that takes place beginning with the leader
So true, my dear brother – many have forgotten that we are to be witnesses UNTO HIM!
Powerful vision.
Blessings
BT
The Bond – servant Warrior
Philipians 2:5-7
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
Jn 13:3 — Jn 13:5
Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
These verses of Scripture are what I see as describing the servant – warrior in my dream.
I had a dream the morning of 08/01/2015. In this dream I was on a battlefield. I had no weapons and no shield. I don’t remember having any shoes either.
I was dressed in a towel or loin cloth which was the dress of a slave in Bible days. To further exemplify this picture, recall the pictures of Jesus on the cross wearing the garment of a slave.
I saw different parts of the armor appear and dissappear as they were needed. For example, I saw a sword appear and then didsappear from my hand.
The point of the dream is that we are to be slaves with no reputation to speak of totally reliant on the Lord’s wisdom and might to defeat the enemy.
Humility is what it will take to defeat the enemy in battle. Pride will result in downfall. To go back to the verse in Philipians, “He made Himself of NO REPUTATION, emphasis mine. People hung up on titles soon get the attitude of entitlement and entitlement is pride
Bond Servants – no higher call, such a Call requires a walk of lowliness that we may scale the heights to which HE has purposed for us.
“God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect. He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet: and setteth me upon my high places. He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy gentleness hath made me great. Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet did not slip.”
2 Samuel 32:33-37
His humility is my hope to be free from all pride.
Blessings
BT
Interestingly, in China the number of “believers” is not counted the way we do in the USA. We tend to count attendees at our church buildings, and that likely inflates the numbers of those who are really Christ-followers. A house church leader from a western province said in a discreet interview, they only count as a “believer” someone who has led others to Jesus and is discipling them. That would suggest that there are many more Christians in China than any media, even Christian ones report.🤠
We inflate ourselves to mask our shortcomings. Men glory in numbers, God glories in hearts that are His.
A good observation.
Blessings
BT