Only Servants

One of the reasons the Apostle Paul wrote 1 Corinthians was to correct the excessive praise being given by some in the church to Apollos, Peter and Paul. All three had made a significant contribution to the lives of these young believers. But as is often the case with immature believers, the Corinthians began to shift their focus away from Christ and become inordinately attached to God's human instruments of salvation.

Paul strongly rebuked them: "What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed [the gospel seed], Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow" (1 Cor. 3:5-7).

Every pastor, evangelist, church administrator and leader would serve himself and the body of Christ well by writing this Scripture on the door posts of his heart. After all, church leaders are "only servants." To be sure, leaders are to be respected, honored and even obeyed (see 1 Thess 5:13; Heb. 13:17). But we are never to put them on a pedestal; we are never to think more highly of them than we ought (see Rom. 12:3).

How, then, can a genuine servant-spirit be fostered in the heart and life of the church leader? Consider the following.

A Servant-Spirit Won't Fish for Ego-strokes, Instead It's Content with God's Approval.

Certainly, every pastor, evangelist and church leader is human. Of course we appreciate words of affirmation and encouragement coming from our brothers and sisters in the Lord after we have ministered to them in some way. But God's man or woman won't angle for them, hint for them. Or be driven to despair for not getting them. One should neither be "puffed up" when praised, nor "puffed down" when ignored. Let's learn to live on God's word of approval: "This is my son, in whom I am well pleased." Paul didn't seek praise. The fact is: he deflected it—to Christ!

A Servant-Spirit Subordinates Self-interests for the Sake of Others' Interests.

Paul was not interested in short-term gains (praise) at the expense of his converts' long-term good. The Apostle's overriding preoccupation was to ground his converts in Christ: "By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder. . . . For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 3:10,11).

To exalt one's self in the eyes of those who look to us for spiritual leader- ship, to promote ourselves by subtly revealing our lofty "spirituality," to manipulate our disciples so as to enhance ourselves—this is not building on Christ. This is building with wood, hay and straw (see 1 Cor. 3:12). May God help us! Paul says Judgment Day will be so revealing.

A Servant-Spirit Doesn't View Its Gifted Peers As Rivals, but Allies.

God wants us to be thankful for our own gifts while not being envious of our brother's or sister's. Just as members of our own body are not in competition with one another for attention, nor jealous when one member overshadows another, so it should be in the body of Christ. May the love of Christ so fill us that we will be thankful for his or her gifts.

Little-souled people compete in the church; they view some others as having an advantage over them; they are critical and sometimes mean-spirited. What a contrast is Paul. "We are God's fellow workers" (1 Cor. 3:9). Whether the other man is pastoring a much larger congregation than you are, whether more adults are flocking to her elective Sunday school class than to yours, whether your name is ever circulated beyond the boundaries of your own local church—it makes no difference. "We are God's fellow workers." Let's thank God for each person who is called to his or her respective ministries—whether large or small.

Finally . . .

A Servant-Spirit Views Jesus Christ as Its Perfect Model of Servanthood and No One Else.

Jesus Christ responded consistently and perfectly to every individual with the right kind of attitude. Only Christ was perfect. Only Christ was flawless. Only

Christ is to be adored, applauded and worshiped. The best and the greatest of the church's leaders have failed. Pastors have failed, evangelists have failed, teachers have failed. Not so with Christ. Let us exalt Him; let us worship Him—and Him alone. For He not only taught us how to be a servant, He showed us the true servant-spirit.

Writing in his excellent book, Leadership, Greatness & Servanthood, Philip Greenslade shares the following insight:

“In one of his books, that sensitive Methodist preacher of an earlier era, A. E. Whitman muses on the possibility of there being a museum in heaven, exhibiting tokens of spiritual leadership. It's an intriguing thought. In such a museum would surely be Moses's staff and Aaron's rod—the one that budded. Alongside these, among many others, we might reasonably expect to find the inkpot that Luther threw at the devil, John Wesley's saddle and stirrups, not to mention praying Hyde's knee patches and Billy Graham's airline tickets. But two items would surely be conspicuous by their absence. The towel and basin would not be there; for the good reason that they are in use!”

And now, regardless of our place in the church, let us each offer this prayer: Lord, by your grace, may I never claim to be anything more than this: only a servant.