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A young boy handed his mother his dirty dish for her to put in the dishwasher. As he did, he exclaimed, “Here you are, servant.” When he saw the look on her face, he added, “Mom, what’s a servant?”
I laughed when I read this story on a friend’s Facebook page. Oh, kids. This young boy was about to learn that it’s not a good idea to call your mother a servant. I’m sure he also learned that his perspective needed an adjustment. Apparently, he figured loading the dishwasher was his mom’s job and he was just stating the fact that she was serving the family in that way. Of course, to her it may not have sounded that way. (As a mom, I can only imagine my response if one of my boys had made this statement!)
While it’s true she was serving her family…that term, in that context, didn’t seem quite right. I was thinking there are times we feel like “servants” in the body of Christ, and not necessarily in a good way. What is it about that word that makes us uncomfortable…when we know it is biblicaly accurate?
Let’s hear your thoughts on this! Do you mind being called a servant? Why or why not?
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my spiritual gifts are giving and serving, and if I am called a servant, I will be happy about it because it will make me feel closer to Jesus, who came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransome for many.
When you are serving, whether it be for the Lord or for your family (which would still be for the Lord) you are doing this with love and respect. When someone calls you a servant they are doing this with an arrogance of being better than you AND have an expectation and preconception of what you do and who you are. There is no love and respect returned at that point.
In addition, there are times when being called a servant can be a positive…like servant of the Lord. But when someone uses the term negatively or without thought…like a child might do – then this is a great teaching moment. And with others you just need to say thank you.
My response for the first time was negative and fake. I smiled, but in my heart I felt unappreciated because all I received was a thank you card. I had to take a good look at my motive for even serving. Was it for the accolades? I learned the hard way that it wasn’t what man thought of my service, but what did the LORD think? If I never again hear man say my name or receive another thank you card, I just want to hear GOD say “WELL DONE”!
It seems that in general, we don’t mind calling ourselves servants for Christ or servants of God but when someone else says the words it feels like “you are just a servant”. There is a part of human flawedness that wants to claim that we are important and our work is important Yet begin a servant like Christ is extremely important in our Christain growth but it is not valued by society. We must remember the sermon on the mount from the scriptures, where the last shall be first etc… and listen to our heart which calls us to be Christ like and not listen to the world.
Thanks, Barbara. Very well stated!
There is an old saying “it is easy being a servant until you are treated lik one”. We don’t necessarily dislike serving, even being recognized as one. But the real test comes when we don’t get the expected measure of appreciation. Christ exemplified selfless seeing. Often we are self serving.