Our relationship with God should reflect an attitude of gratitude and latitude. We should be thankful (gratitude) for His many blessings and His caring love. We should also remember who we are versus who He is. It should go without saying that in all things God is above us (latitudinally superior). For all of His loving offers of friendship and fellowship, He is always to be held in honor as preeminent. We are His sons and daughters, His friends, yes, but also, we are His servants.
Western egalitarianism has a hard time relating to God properly. We treat our leaders as equals who can be discharged for poor performance. Within limits, we can leave our job and go somewhere else if we do not like our boss. Mommy/daddy-bashing has become an art form. Honoring others is not always a common trait in us. We evaluate and grade our pastors and submit to no one unless we have a beneficial motive for doing so.(On the other hand, we hold athletes, rock stars and movie stars in high esteem even when their lifestyles are contrary to our beliefs.)
We often think of our judges as corrupt and of our sports referees as favoring the other team. Our cynicism toward authority is high, and, too often, with good reason. Many of our public and private leaders have let us down. Unfortunately, we often, intentionally or unintentionally, and quite mistakenly, hold God to be in the same boat.
Biblical cultures were monarchial. So are many cultures in our own age. We in the west do not know how to relate to kings and other autocrats. We think of Jesus as our Savior (Good job, Jesus!), but do not relate to him readily as our Lord or Master, even though Paul would tell us that He cannot be one unless He is both. The master/disciple relationship is lost on us unless we are watching a fantasy film (Obi Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker).
We might think of it only as an eastern philosophical practice of the Buddhists. Maybe we get a positive feeling about the word “mentor,” but nothing in our culture properly prepares us for the word “servant.” And yet the Bible calls us early and often to be just that; i.e., a servant of God and a servant of one another.
From the beginning man was created as a steward over all of earthly creation. A steward is a servant who manages that which belongs to another. A servant and a master can be good friends with mutual respect, but there still needs to be a recognition of who is the servant and who is the master.
Adam and Eve were friends with God in the Garden, but they knew who was in charge. God called Abraham His friend, but God also called Abraham His servant and Abraham related to God with utmost respect.
James 2:22-24 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. NASB
Gen 26:23-24 Then he (Isaac) went up from there to Beersheba. 24 And the LORD appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, for the sake of My servant Abraham.” NASB
God called Moses His friend, but God also called Moses His Servant and Moses related to God with utmost respect. As Oswald Chambers reminds me, I am to give “My Utmost for His Highest.”
Ex 33:10-11 Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. NASB
Num 12:6-7 Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream. 7 “Not so, with My servant Moses. He is faithful in all My household. NASB
God desires to relate to us as friends, but friendship with God does not prevent us from continuing as His servants. The Bible tells us that the “fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Ps 111:10). The Hebrew word for “fear” used here is “yirah.” It is not meant to be read as craven fear or terror. It is a term used to mean reverence or deep respect. So we’d do better to translate this, “Reverence or deep respect for the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
I go back to my opening comments. Our relationship with God must be based on an attitude of gratitude and latitude. We are grateful for God’s mercy and grace, but we know clearly that God is higher than are we, deserving our reverence and deep respect,
even when He has extended His hand to us in friendship. In other words, it is necessary to have a servant’s attitude if we want to successfully relate to God.
Joshua and Caleb were both known as “servants of the Lord.” David called himself God’s servant. God referred to all three as His servants. Isaiah and Hezekiah referred to themselves as God’s servants. God called them His servants and also referred to Job very fondly as His servant.
God refers to the nation of Israel as His servant as well as calling the prophet, Daniel, His servant. He refers to the coming Messiah as His Servant (with a capital S indicating His divinity). In short, the normative relationship between God and His friends in the Bible was that of a Master and servant.
How do we today feel about the term “servant?” Would we feel good about referring to ourselves as someone’s servant? Mostly not, I think. The term is pejorative to most of us. It offends our ego and our sense of pride. We might be heard to declare, “I am no man’s servant!” And that is one of the main reasons we in the west have so much trouble relating properly to God. “Obey, submit and honor” are words that are hard for us to use
even as it relates to God Himself. We may give lip service to the idea that God is to be obeyed, but little more than that.
The Bible tells us that the Lord is my shield and buckler. (A buckler is yet another kind of shield). We tend to think of God as our shield and butler. His job is to protect us from trouble and get us what we want. When he fails to do those things we berate Him, we castigate Him, and we grade Him as being insufficient. That tends to be an impediment in a good working relationship with God, don’t you think?
Over time our teaching about God has swung like a pendulum from a judgmental master to a sweet, loving buddy. God has both gears and everything in between. Paul refers to it as “the kindness and severity of God.”
Rom 11:22-23 22 Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in; for God is able to graft them in again. NASB
When necessary, God can and does remind us that He is the Master of the Universe and the God of all creation. He did just that with his friend, Job when Job questioned Him about how God had been treating him lately.
Job 38:1-11 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, 2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? 3 “Now gird up your loins like a man, and I will ask you, and you instruct Me! 4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. 5 Who set its measurements, since you know? Or who stretched the line on it? 6 “On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, 7 when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? 8 “Or who enclosed the sea with doors, when, bursting forth, it went out from the womb; 9 when I made a cloud its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, 10 and I placed boundaries on it, and I set a bolt and doors, 11 and I said,’ Thus far you shall come, but no farther; and here shall your proud waves stop’? NASB
After two more full chapters of such questions, God asks Job a direct question and Job, recognizing the silliness and the arrogance of challenging God, answers with all humility.
Job 40:1-4 Then the LORD said to Job, 2 “Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who reproves God answer it.” 3 Then Job answered the LORD and said, 4 “Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to Thee? I lay my hand on my mouth. NASB
Once God has Job back in the right frame of mind, He offers Job some counsel that we all do well to understand.
Job 40:6-8 Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm, and said, 7 “Now gird up your loins like a man; I will ask you, and you instruct Me. 8 “Will you really annul My judgment? Will you condemn Me that you may be justified? NASB
“Man up!,” says God. “Can you (or anyone else) ever be justified when you judge and condemn Me?” Then we get two more chapters of instruction from God followed by Job’s final answer below. Very poetically he says (like Gilda Radner), “Never mind!”
Job 42:1-6 Then Job answered the LORD, and said, 2 “I know that Thou canst do all things, and that no purpose of Thine can be thwarted. 3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ “Therefore, I have declared that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.” 4’Hear, now, and I will speak; I will ask Thee, and do Thou instruct me.’ 5 “I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees Thee; 6 Therefore, I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes.” NASB
Job was the most righteous man in the east, we are told. He was God’s friend and a very good man. God loved him and bragged on him to the angels. But God knew that Job in his righteousness had two deep-seated sins in his bosom of which that righteous man was unaware. They were self-righteousness and pride. They are metaphorically referred to in the story as Behemoth and Leviathan.
God wanted to deliver Job from these sins so that Job could walk even closer with God
without danger of falling. So God devised a plan, a terrible set of circumstances, that would cause these two sins to become visible to Job, but only after Job had exhausted his religiosity. Once Job saw his error and confessed it and after God had fully instructed him on it, God restored Job in full relationship and was able to bless him even more than before, but safely.
Job thought of himself as God’s servant, and he was, until, that is, circumstances got so bad that they revealed his hidden pride and self-righteousness. Then Job became God’s accuser and judge. He took God to task and challenged His goodness. He quit being God’s servant and became God’s judge. It is an extraordinary lesson in right and wrong relationship with God.
Very few of us wait as long as did Job before we abandon the role of God’s servant and take up the role of God’s judge. Often a mere hangnail will get us there.
It cannot be overstated how important it is that we see ourselves as a servant of God, even when He treats us like His good friend. Seeing ourselves as a servant will keep us rightly related and safe. Once we begin to be God’s judge, we wander away from His presence and His protection until we are so lost that only a total disaster can get our attention. The story Jesus told of the Prodigal Son is a perfect example of this truth.
We need to take our cue from the friends of God in the Bible (many of whom are listed above), not from the egalitarian culture in which we live. We need to keep in mind that as wonderful as democracy is, the kingdom of God is a monarchy, and, specifically, a theocracy. We are supposed to be in the world but not of it. We are just passing through this world, but heaven is our home and Jesus is our King, our Lord and our Savior. And God is the Father and the creator of us all. As Isaiah says, God is the potter and we are the clay.
Isa 45:9-10 “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker — an earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’? NASB
Isa 64:8 But now, O LORD, Thou art our Father. We are the clay, and Thou our potter; and all of us are the work of Thy hand. NASB
Lest we think that this concept is all Old Testament, we need to see just how pervasive it is in the New Testament as well. In Romans 9, Paul quotes Isaiah 45:9-10 above to make the same point. We need to see ourselves as a servant of God.
Rom 9:20-21 On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? 21 Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use, and another for common use? NASB
Matthew tells us in his gospel that Jesus was a servant of God, in fact, the Messianic Servant of God long prophesied.
Matt 12:15-21 But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed Him, and He healed them all, 16 and warned them not to make Him known, 17 in order that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, might be fulfilled, saying, 18 “Behold, My Servant whom I have chosen; My Beloved in whom My soul is well-pleased; I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles. 19 “He will not quarrel, nor cry out; nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. 20 “A battered reed He will not break off, and a smoldering wick He will not put out, until He leads justice to victory. 21 “And in His name the Gentiles will hope.” NASB
Jesus tells us plainly that He is submitted to the Father, doing only what His Father does. Jesus said that He came to do His Father’s will. Jesus lives to please the Father.
John 5:19 Jesus therefore answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. NASB
John 5:30 “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. NASB
John 8:28-30 Jesus therefore said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. 29 “And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” NASB
Paul tells the Philippians plainly that even though Jesus existed in the form of God, He became a bond-servant of God to show men how to relate to the Father. He tells us that we need to have the same attitude as did Jesus; i.e., the aforementioned attitude of latitude as it relates to the Father.
Phil 2:5-8 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. NASB
In the wilderness temptation after His baptism, Jesus is tempted to serve the Devil in order to gain easier access to the kingdoms of this world. Rejecting this temptation, He tells Satan plainly that we are to be servants of God (Mt 4:9-10).
Matt 4:9-10….and he (Satan) said to Him, “All these things will I give You, if You fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Begone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.'” NASB
Interestingly, Paul equates having the heart of a servant toward God with worshipping God. To serve God with humility in your heart is to worship Him. We must transform our mind to think of ourselves as God’s servant, not His equal or His judge. The world thinks of God in this manner when it thinks of God at all.
He who thinks of himself as God’s servant worships God in doing so. He who thinks of God as his equal or his inferior who may be judged, worships himself (he thinks), but actually, he worships the god of this world, Satan. Interestingly, Darth Vader did a better job of serving and worshipping his evil emperor than we often do in serving and worshipping of our God.
Rom 12:1-2 I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. NASB
Peter, the Apostle, was in so many ways like us all. He was good hearted but spiritually clumsy. He got good revelation one minute and said all the wrong things the next. He was bold to say he would never betray Jesus then ran like a scared rabbit in less than 12 hours. I would have been right behind him, I am sure, both to boast and to betray.
Jesus saw the goodness in Peter and He loved him for it. Jesus went out of his way to redeem Peter and to restore him to fellowship. Peter grew in wisdom and strength over the years, but as he grew stronger he became more humble. Later in his journey, Peter tells us clearly that he is a bond-servant of Christ even though he is an apostle. A bond servant is closer to a slave; i.e., a person bound to serve someone. That’s how Peter saw it.
2 Peter 1:1-2 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord …NASB
James, the brother of the Lord, had the same attitude – eventually. James and the other brothers of Jesus did not follow Him until after the resurrection (Jn 7:5). Eventually, James becomes the leader of the Jerusalem church, but initially he differed in doctrine from Jesus for a period that may have begun when they were both young men in their parents’ home. James was a Pharisee of some note respected by the Christians and Jews alike.
Jesus taught salvation through relationship with the Father, not by keeping the Law. Jesus taught salvation by faith through grace and not by works. James was initially of the other opinion. Eventually James was won over completely and in the epistle that bears his name, James calls himself a bond-servant of Jesus, the older brother he once resisted.
James 1:1 James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad, greetings. NASB
Jude was another younger brother of Jesus who wrote an epistle in which he states the same thing.
Jude 1-2 Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you. NASB
John, the beloved disciple, possibly the closest friend Jesus had on earth, the one whom Jesus loved best, also refers to himself as a bond-servant of God.
Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must shortly take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, NASB
Paul refers to himself in the same way in multiple letters and tells his young disciples that they should also think that way.
Titus 1:1-2 Paul, a bond-servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, NASB
Rom 1:1-2 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures,…NASB
Col 1:7 just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, NASB
Col 4:7 As to all my affairs, Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond-servant in the Lord, will bring you information. NASB
2 Tim 2:24-25 And the Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, 25 with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,…NASB
Paul tells us we belong to God as His possessions for two very good reasons: because God created us (He is the potter) and because Jesus shed His blood to ransom us. He bought us with a price like a slave at a market. We had been captured by Satan and God sent His Son to die to redeem us. He promised to do this way, back in the book of Isaiah.
Isa 40:1-2 Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God. 2 “Speak kindly to Jerusalem; and call out to her, that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity has been removed, that she has received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.” NASB
“Comfort the people,” God tells the prophet. Tell them I, the Lord have paid the ransom price to redeem them (double). No one else could or would do it, so God did it. He bought us back with His blood.
1 Cor 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body. NASB
1 Cor 7:22-24 For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord’s freedman; likewise, he who was called while free, is Christ’s slave. 23 You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men. NASB
Paul tells us we are not our own. We are either bought and paid servants of the Lord
or we are captured servants of Satan. Those are the only two choices. We will choose one or the other, even if we think we are our own man. As Bob Dylan said after he got saved,
“You gotta serve somebody!” Perhaps the clearest presentation of this concept is in Paul’s recitation to the Corinthians about his own situation. Paul was the sworn enemy of Jesus until Jesus conquered him on the road to Damascus as told in Acts 8 and 9. From that point on, Paul saw himself as a thriamboulos (Greek for trophy slave) of Christ.
If a brigand rampaged and pillaged through the countryside looting and carrying off everything of value, the people would call for a champion. Out would ride a general who would eventually corner and conquer the brigand. If the brigand was captured alive, he was marched in chains from town to town so the people could all see him captured and give glory to the general.
As the brigand was marched through a town all the people would come out to meet him, to boo the brigand and to praise the general. They would throw rose petals at the feet of the general and burn incense to him in praise of his victory. It wasn’t as nice for the brigand as you can imagine. The general would often bring back stolen loot and return stolen property which only heightened the praise and swelled the crowds.
Paul said that he was just such a brigand and that Jesus was the conquering general. The story unfolds in 2 Cor 2:14 if we read it with some understanding.
2 Cor 2:14-17 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. 15 For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; 16 to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? 17 For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God. NASB
This scripture is frequently misinterpreted to suggest that God always leads good Christians in triumph. Some suggest that we can count on God to give us victory over difficulty with a little faith, and a perhaps well-directed offering to their TV ministry ?. But that is neither what it says nor what it means.
In the Greek (which you can see for yourselves with an interlinear translation) Paul says, “Blessed be God Who thriamboulosses me from place to place in Christ! The phrase translated “leads us in triumph” is actually a verb form of thriamboulos meaning trophy slave.
So Paul is saying, “Blessed be God who leads me from town to town as a trophy slave of Jesus, the general who conquered me on the road to Damascus. I was a brigand who went around capturing and even killing Christians until Jesus sallied forth and defeated me on the Damascus road.
Since that time I have been marched from town to town witnessing to the glory of my captor resulting in praises to Jesus wherever I go. This has resulted in a sweet aroma of knowledge of Him that parallels the incense offered to the conquering general. Like the roses that are crushed to bring out their fragrance, I have been crushed by the many momentary light afflictions I have suffered in each town and when I am crushed, I put off an aroma of praise. (Sometimes when I have been crushed, the aroma I put off did not smell a lot like roses. How about you?)
Paul is saying that his praise of God in all circumstances and his witness to the glory of Jesus, the general who conquered him, are increasing the glory of Jesus everywhere. Some people, Paul says, receive that aroma and it leads them to life. Others reject that aroma and it results in their death. Either way, Paul is crushed and Jesus is lifted up.
Finally, Paul says that he is an honest broker of the Gospel, preaching sincerely and not peddling the gospel for gain. This is aimed at his enemies in Corinth who are preaching to make money and are saying things the people want to hear versus Paul who is chastising them for their sin.
In summary, in Corinth Paul is saying that “I have come to tell you the unpleasant truth and have been crushed for it. But wherever I go with sincere motives witnessing to the Lordship of Jesus, He is lifted up and ultimately that conquers all brigands as it did me.
Paul tells us that we are bondslaves, bought with a price; i.e., the blood of Jesus. We need to approach the Father with the heart of a servant, humble, ready to hear His word and do His will. If we do, we can enter into fellowship with God that allows Him to befriend us rather than chasten us.
The realization of who God is versus who we are is a vital latitudinal component of a successful relationship with the Father. If we humble ourselves before Him, He will exalt us as he did Jesus in Philippians 2.
Phil 2:8-11 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. NASB
I have come to agree with Paul completely. Not only did Jesus purchase me with His blood, but He conquered me in my rebellion, my self-will and my pride. I acknowledge that I am his thriamboulos and that He marches me from place to place to bear witness to His victory in my life, and I am grateful that He does.
When I have that right attitude of gratitude and latitude, I find that in addition to being His servant, I have become His very good friend. What I want more than life itself is to hear the God of heaven say what Jesus promised would be the reward for good and faithful servants.
Matt 25:21… Matt 25:21 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your master.’ NASB