Titus 1:1-4
When the word servant comes up my first thought is somebody
that works for a family of wealth.
But unlike a slave, a servant has a choice of whom he chooses to
serve. A servant may not be that
bad of a gig, it has everything to do with whom your serving. Most of my friends have never been
servants, and neither have I, unless you call my time in the U.S. Army. And I do not think that was being a
servant in that a servant has a choice, and that was not part of Uncle Sam’s options.
As we look into Titus we begin with a greeting to Titus from
the apostle Paul, and he identifies himself in this way; “Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ,
for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which
accords with godliness, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies,
promised before the age begin and at the proper time manifested in his word
through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God
our Savior; To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God
the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.”
I enjoy pointing out these sentences that seem like a
paragraph to Jan, she is always on me for my long sentences. Now what were we talking about, it was how
Paul identifies himself, a servant of God, is that out of the ordinary for an
apostle? No, not at all, the
apostle James referred to himself as a servant of God in James 1:1. The apostle Peter called himself a
servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, in 2 Peter 1:1. And we also have Jude; many believe he was the brother of
Jesus who only identifies himself as a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of
James, in Jude 1.
These men did more than just said they were part of Christ,
they chose to be servants of our Lord.
Many today identify with churches, political parties, companies, and
labor unions, but they do not become servants of them. As followers of Christ, are we called
to do more than just identify with Jesus Christ? Before going there it may be important to understand that in
our culture we look down on servants, they are assumed to be of lower skills,
or lesser class, even of lesser education than the ones being served. So we may have a real problem because
we cannot lower ourselves to a lowly role of a servant, not even to our
Creator, our Redeemer, our Lord.
If that is where you find yourself, you have some big problems, and you
will miss out on the fullness of life that God has planned for you.
It is important to remember that God does not change, and
this was His message to Moses for Israel, and it is still the message to us His
church: “And now Israel, what does the Lord your
God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to
love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am
commanding you today for your good?” (Deuteronomy 10:12-13) For the few who only take heart
in the New Testament look at Ephesians 6:7, the message of Scripture is that
Jesus came to serve, not to be served, and we are to do as our Master. If you are not serving, you are not
living a kingdom-centered life because a kingdom minded person identifies and
submits to the authority of God.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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