If you have not been able to hear each of the sermons in our summer sermon series on Disciple-making: Seek, Serve, and Send, you can follow this link to find the Sunday(s) you have missed and catch up: https://chbchurch.org/resources/sermons/sermon-list/.
Each week this year, my CHBC article has been on one of those words: search/seek, serve, or send. It is my hope that discipleship becomes a part of our culture as a church. We are always alert to those who do not know Christ, we are actively serving one another as a means of representing to the world that we are disciples of Christ, and we see ourselves (and therefore every believer) as a sent people with a mission. You can find all those articles at this link: https://chbchurch.org/resources/articles/.
Do you see the ministries, activities, Bible studies, worship services, staff, and people of Capitol Hill Baptist Church as primarily existing to serve you and your needs? Do you approach church the way you approach online shopping? There are lots of things out there, which things do I want, or which ones can I add to my shopping cart that will meet my needs or make me feel good today?
Our natural human tendency, the social norms of our society, and the intentional temptation of Satan and his demons conspire against us to make us think the universe revolves around ourselves. We are forced to fight against a gravitational pull toward self-centeredness.
Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, who was fully human, who lived among sinful humanity, and who submitted Himself to all the temptations we face, but who lived without any sin said this, “Calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, ‘You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. 43 But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; 44 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.’” (Mark 10:42-45).
He did not negate a desire for greatness. He did not say no one should be a leader. He said the path for greatness and the character of leadership begins in service. It begins in His service.
Jesus does not demand that we serve one another while He sits above us on an exalted throne, expecting His minions to please Him by doing His bidding. “Serve one another, or else.” No, Jesus calls upon His followers, His disciples, to serve one another flowing out of His example. He did not come to be served, but to serve. Before the disciples would witness His ultimate act of service, He expressed it to them in the phrase, “and to give His life a ransom for many.”
He calls upon us to serve one another with His words and with the act of serving us through His own death on the cross. His death serves to rid us of the penalty, power, and presence of sin. His death serves to provide us with a new nature that can fight the temptation toward self-centeredness. Not so we can become others-centered, but so we can become Christ-centered. It is out of a life that puts Jesus Christ at its center that we will sacrificially serve.
For a husband to serve his wife without a hint of selfishness requires making Christ the center of his life. If he puts his wife at the center of his life, he may serve her, but only for what it gains him. Same is true for wives and their husbands, or parents and their children. That is true of serving others in the church, serving our businesses, or serving lost people.
The call to serve one another is a call to make Christ first. And when He becomes our soul focus, then we can freely serve others with no expectation of anyone being pleased but Christ alone. When our serving is received and is a blessing to others, we rejoice that Christ empowered us to do so. When our serving is misconstrued, misunderstood, or in our own sinful failings falls short of meeting the need or expectation of others, we are able to live with their disappoint at us, because we are not serving to please them but Christ, who does not judge us by our success or failure, but who looks at our heart and knows it true intention.
The reality of serving in Christ frees us to serve with generosity. We can serve extravagantly and unconstrained because it is through Him that we love and serve. This is why He could serve Judas who would betray Him. He was not trying to win over Judas. He was simply obeying the Father. We can do the same.
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Pastor Mark
