“Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ” (1 Corinthians 4:1).
One of the most stunning ironies in our world happens in regard to the title, servant. People often do not mind having others serve them; however, they turn their nose up at the thought of serving others. In other words, they want servants, but they do not want to be a servant. It is always our pride, arrogance, and selfishness that lead us to resist the notion of servanthood. In Matthew 23:12, Jesus said, “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.” I read of a businessman who asked his Bible study group, “How can you tell if you have a servant attitude?” One of his peers answered, “By the way you react when you’re treated like one” (https://www.sermonsearch.com/sermon-illustrations/5923/a-servants-heart/). He was spot-on was he not? Paul, to the church in Corinth, said in 1 Corinthians 4:1: “Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ.” Moreover, Peter reminded believers spread out all over the Roman Empire in 1 Peter 4:10: “As each one has received a special gift,” meaning spiritual gift, “employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” So, servant is not a bad word, and it is certainly not a way of life to be scorned. Rather, it is to be our one-word job description in this world, as we await the soon return of Jesus Christ.
Mark recorded in his gospel, Mark 10:45, Jesus saying, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” During His earthly ministry, Jesus served the needs of hurting people all around him. He healed the sick, blind, deaf, and lame. Jesus fed multitudes of people. He taught them God’s word and will. He showed people God’s kingdom. On the night before being betrayed into the hands of the Jewish leaders to be crucified, Jesus washed His disciples’ feet demonstrating servanthood. John 13:12-17 tell us: “When He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” Friends, if Jesus, God from all eternity, came into this world as a man to be a servant and to serve others, then, certainly, those who call Him Lord will follow His example.
J. I. Packer, in his book, Your Father Loves You, speaks at some length on the subject of servanthood. “Servant,” said Packer, “in our English New Testament usually represents the Greek doulos (bondslave). Sometimes it means diakonos (deacon or minister); this is strictly accurate, for doulos and diakonos are synonyms. Both words denote a man who is not at his own disposal, but is his master's purchased property. Bought to serve his master's needs, to be at his beck and call every moment, the slave's sole business is to do as he is told. Christian service therefore means, first and foremost, living out a slave relationship to one's Savior.” Packer asked, “What work does Christ set his servants to do? The way that they serve him, he tells them, is by becoming the slaves of their fellow-servants and being willing to do literally anything, however costly, irksome, or undignified, in order to help them. This is what love means, as he himself showed at the Last supper, when he played the slave's part and washed the disciples' feet” (https://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/s/servant.htm). 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.
On the occasion when James and John approached Jesus and asked to be seated beside Him in Heaven, their audacity was met with scorn by the other disciples which led to conflict among the disciples. Jesus calmed the argument down by calling the disciples to Himself and saying in Mark 10:42-44: “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.” Our Lord’s words tell us straightforwardly that the way to increase is to decrease.
A missionary in a Muslim-majority country got a call one day from his wife. Their local house-helper, a common practice in that country, had accidentally dropped and broken the carafe from their coffee maker. Now coffee isn’t common in that country; everyone drinks tea, so the coffee pot was considered precious. The missionary’s wife called to tell her husband in advance, not that the coffee pot was broken, but that their house-helper was terrified to tell him. Because women are not valued highly in that culture, she probably expected to be fired or even beaten when the man of the house got home. The husband understood why his wife warned him. When he came home, he made sure his reaction showed the house-helper that she was more important than a coffee pot. He showed her that her servant role as house-helper did not mean she was worthless and expendable. Quite the contrary, as a servant, she was important, loved, respected, and honored. By living out the humility, love, and servanthood of Jesus, the missionaries displayed God's love to a woman whom the world considered expendable in a way which simple words could not express (https://thepastorsworkshop.com/sermon-illustrations/more-value-than-a-coffee-pot).
Paul, in Romans 12:3, left a stern admonishment: "Through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith." Doing this requires that we place Jesus and others before ourselves. Remember, friends, it is Christ's will that people around us know us as His servants. Consequently, to be made all the more into the image of Christ is to embrace, more and more, the attitude and lifestyle of a servant.