Introduction:
A. Someone has said, “Some minds are like concrete; thoroughly mixed and permanently set.”
1. How about you? How is your thinking?
2. Are you spiritually minded? Do you have the mind of a servant?
3. Or is your mind like concrete, all mixed up and permanently set in a worldly, selfish mindset?
B. We are in a sermon series where we are trying to learn to serve like Jesus served.
1. So far in the series, we have learned that Jesus was a servant and that God wants us to be like Him.
2. Last week, we explored the idea that to be a real servant, we will have to get a grip on our selfish tendencies.
3. Today, we want to learn that being a servant requires the mindset of a servant.
4. Ultimately, servanthood requires a mental shift, a change in our attitudes.
C. In Charles Swindoll’s book, Come Before Winter, he makes the important point that all of us are products of our thoughts.
1. He writes: “Thoughts form the thermostat which regulates what we accomplish in life. My body responds and reacts to the input from my mind. If I feed it with doubt, worry and discouragement, that is precisely the kind of day I will experience. If I adjust my thermostat forward – to thoughts filled with vision, hope and victory – I can count on that kind of day. You and I become what we think about…”
2. The same is true about being a servant – if we don’t think like a servant, then we won’t become a servant.
D. Scripture is clear that the battle is won or lost in the brain.
1. Look with me at Romans 8:5-6: Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace…
a. Notice how the two very different outcomes are determined by what our minds are set on.
b. How we control our minds and what we focus our minds on is so important.
2. Let’s look at Romans 12:2: Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.
a. What does Paul say is the way a person is able to break out of the world’s mold? By changing their thinking.
b. We are transformed by the renewing of our minds.
c. We are transformed by adopting a spiritual mind – the mind of Christ.
d. Then we will be able to know God’s will and do God’s will.
3. Another passage of Paul that speaks to the importance of renewing and controlling our minds is 2 Corinthians 10:5: We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
a. That is a very important and challenging goal for us: to take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ!
b. With God’s help we can control and direct our thinking.
c. How great that would be if all our thoughts were spiritual and godly!
4. Let’s look at one final passage about the importance of what we do with our minds – 1 Peter 1:13: “Therefore, prepare your minds for action...”
a. There are many spiritual actions that we need to prepare our minds for, but one of the most important is to prepare our minds for service.
E. I want us to spend the rest of this sermon exploring how a servant thinks and what a servant should be thinking.
1. I am borrowing these points from a chapter in Rick Warren’s immensely popular book, The Purpose Driven Life.
2. In chapter 34 of that book, Warren says, “Real servants serve God with a mindset of five attitudes.”
3. I believe these five attitudes will help us truly have the mind of a servant.
I. First of all, Real Servants Think more about Others than about Themselves
A. This is a subject we focused on last week, when we made a case for selflessness in a selfie world.
1. Real servants focus on others, not themselves.
2. This is true humility: not thinking less of ourselves but thinking of ourselves less.
3. That’s what Paul was getting at in Philippians 2 when he wrote: Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. (2:3-4)
4 If we stop only focusing on our needs, then we can become more aware of the needs around us.
5. A few verses later, Paul says that Jesus “emptied himself by taking on the form of a servant.” (Vs. 7)
6. A good question to ask ourselves is: when was the last time you emptied yourself for someone elses benefit?
7. We can’t be a servant if we’re full of ourselves.
8. It’s only when we forget ourselves that we do the things that deserve to be remembered.
B. Unfortunately, sometimes even a lot of our service can become self-serving.
1. We may serve to get others to like us, or we may serve to be admired, or we may serve to achieve our own goals.
a. Sadly, that is manipulation, not ministry.
2. Additionally, some people try to use service as a bargaining tool with God: “I’ll do this for you God, if you’ll do something for me.”
3. Real servants don’t try to use God for their own purposes, rather they let God use them for His purposes.
C. The quality of self-forgetfulness, like faithfulness, is extremely rare.
1. Out of all the people Paul knew, Timothy was the only example he could point to.
2. In Philippians 2:20-21, Paul said this admirable thing about Timothy: I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
3. Thinking like a servant is difficult because it challenges the basic problem of most of our lives: we are selfish. We mostly think about ourselves.
4. That’s why humility is a daily struggle, a lesson we must relearn over and over.
5. And that’s why self-denial is at the very core of servanthood.
6. So first, and foremost, if we want to think like a servant, then we have to think more about others than we think about ourselves.
II. Second, Real Servants Think Like Stewards, Not Owners
A. Real servants remember that God owns it all.
1. In the Bible, a steward was a servant entrusted to manage an estate.
2. Joseph was this kind of servant as a prisoner in Egypt.
a. First, Potiphar entrusted Joseph with his home.
b. Then the jailer entrusted Joseph with his jail.
c. Eventually Pharaoh entrusted Joseph with the entire nation of Egypt.
3. Servanthood and stewardship go together, since God expects us to be trustworthy in both.
4. The Bible says, The one thing required of such servants is that they be faithful to their master.
B. If we want to be servants of God, then each of us must ask ourselves: Am I faithfully managing the resources God has entrusted to me?
1. The main things that we have to manage faithfully are our time, our talents and our treasures.
2. In other words, we have to manage our time, our abilities and opportunities, and we have to manage our money and possessions.
3. Again, we have to keep in mind that none of these things belong to us – they belong to God and are just given to us to manage.
C. Our time can be a hard thing to manage.
1. None of us know how much time we actually have to live - we don’t know how many days or years that God will give us to live.
2. But when it comes to today, we all have the same about of time given to us each day.
3. Every day is only 24 hours long.
4. How can we manage each moment and use it to serve God?
5. A big step in that direction is the simple acknowledgement that we belong to God, and that we want to allow God to be a part of each moment.
6. Our lives must be filled with balance: we need time to work, time to exercise, time for family and relationships, time to rest, and time to serve.
7. The better we are at bringing God into each moment, the better we can serve God with our time and the better we can use time wisely by accomplishing a lot of things for God simultaneously.
8. If we are wise, spiritual service can be accomplished while we are at work, or spending time in recreation, or spending time with family.
D. Perhaps the biggest challenge we face as we try to think like a steward is the handling of money.
1. To become a real servant, we are going to have to settle the issue of money.
2. Jesus said, “No servant can serve two masters...You cannot serve both God and Money.” (Mt. 6:24)
3. Notice that Jesus didn’t say, “You shouldn’t serve both masters,” rather, he said, “You cannot.”
a. It is impossible - living for ministry and living for money are mutually exclusive goals.
4. Money has the greatest potential to replace God in our lives.
a. That’s why Jesus talked more about money than He did about most subjects, including heaven and hell.
b. More people are sidetracked from serving God by materialism than anything else.
5. A person might say, “After I achieve my financial goals, I’m going to serve God.”
a. That is a foolish decision they will regret for eternity.
b. We should never put off serving God, saying, “I’ll serve him when I’m done with college, or after I’m married, or after the kids are grown and gone, or after I retire.”
c. We must serve God along the way, because those times may never come.
6. Wealth is certainly not a sin, but failing to use it for Gods glory is.
a. Those people who are entrusted with the ability to make money, face the big challenge of making sure they use it for kingdom purposes and not just to serve themselves.
b. Real servants are more concerned about ministry than money.
c. Real servants think like stewards, not owners.
III. Third, Real Servants Think About Their Own Responsibilities, Not What Other Servants are Doing
A. Real servants don’t compare, criticize, or compete with other servants or ministries.
1. Real servants are too busy doing the work God has given them to be worrying about what other servants are doing or not doing.
B. Competition between Gods servants is illogical for many reasons: were all on the same team, our goal is to make God look good, not ourselves, we’ve been given different assignments, and were all uniquely shaped.
1. Paul wrote: Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. (Gal. 5:26)
2. There’s no place for petty jealousy between servants.
3. When we’re busy serving, we don’t have time to be critical.
a. Any time spent criticizing others is time that could have been spent ministering.
4. When Martha complained to Jesus that Mary was not helping with the work, she lost her servant’s heart.
5. Real servants don’t complain of unfairness, they don’t have pity-parties, and they don’t resent those not serving.
6. Real servants just trust God and keep serving.
C. In John 21, Jesus had an interesting conversation with Peter.
1. The Bible says: Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!” Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This is the apostle John, the writer of this Gospel) When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” (John 21:18-22)
2. Sometimes we fall prey to that “what about him?” attitude.
3. Ultimately, it’s not our job to evaluate the Masters other servants.
4. The Bible says: Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. (Rom. 14:4)
a. The Lord will determine whether his servant has been successful.
5. It’s also not our job to defend ourselves against criticism.
a. Let’s allow our Master handle it.
b. We can follow the example of Moses who showed true humility in the face of opposition, as did Nehemiah, whose response to critics was simply, “My work is too important to stop now and visit with you.” (Neh. 6:3)
6. If we serve like Jesus, then we can expect to be criticized.
a. The world, and even much of the church, does not understand what God values.
b. The disciples criticized one of the most beautiful acts of love shown to Jesus.
c. Mary took the most valuable thing she owned, expensive perfume, and poured it over Jesus.
d. Her lavish service was called “a waste” by the disciples, but Jesus called what she had done “a beautiful thing,” and that’s all that mattered. (Mt. 26:10)
7. Our service for Christ is never wasted, regardless of what others say.
8. Real servants think about their own responsibilities, not what other servants are doing.
IV. Fourth, Real Servants Base Their Identity in Christ
A. Real servants remember they are unconditionally loved and accepted by grace, so they don’t have to prove their worth when they are threatened by lowly jobs of servanthood.
1. Many people are too insecure to be servants.
2. Many are afraid their weaknesses and insecurities will be uncovered, so they hide them with layers of protective pride and pretensions.
B. One of the most profound examples of serving from a secure self-image is Jesus washing the feet of his disciples.
1. Washing feet was the equivalent of being a shoeshine boy, a job devoid of status.
2. But Jesus knew who he was, so it didn’t threaten or bother him to do it.
3. The Bible says: Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. (John 13:3-4)
C. If we are going to be a servant, then we must settle our identity in Christ.
1. Only secure people can serve.
2. The more insecure we are, the more we will want people to serve us, and the more we will need their approval.
3. On the other hand, when we base our worth and identity on our relationship to Christ, then we are freed from the expectations of others.
4. We are freed to serve even in the lowest and most unpleasant ways.
D. Real servants don’t need to cover their walls with plaques and awards to validate their work.
1. Real servants don’t insist on being addressed by titles and they don’t wrap themselves in robes of superiority.
2. Real servants find status symbols unnecessary and they never measure their worth by their achievements or possessions.
3. Paul wrote: For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. (2 Cor. 10:18)
4. If anyone had the chance of a lifetime to flaunt his connections and “name-drop,” it was James, the half-brother of Jesus.
a. He had the credentials of growing up with Jesus as his brother.
b. Yet in introducing his letter, he simply referred to himself as “a servant of God and the Lord Jesus.” (James 1:1)
5. The closer that any of us get to Jesus, the less we need to promote ourselves.
6. Real servants base their identity in Christ.
V. Finally, Real Servants Think of Ministry as an Opportunity, Not an Obligation
A. Real servants enjoy helping people, meeting needs, and doing ministry.
1. Real servants “serve the Lord with gladness” (Ps. 100:2).
2. Why do real servants serve with gladness? Because they love the Lord, because they are grateful for His grace, because they know serving is the highest use of life, and because God has promised a reward.
3. Albert Schweitzer said, “The only really happy people are those who have learned how to serve.”
a. The way to become the greatest and the happiest is to serve.
b. Even if this earthly life was all there was, being a servant would still be the most blessed way to live.
B. But we know that there is more to life than this earthly existence.
1. We know that there is an eternal life which is far better than this life.
2. We know that if we serve God in this earthly life, then we will be rewarded in the next life.
3. Look at these Bible verses that remind us of the promised heavenly rewards:
a. Jesus promised, “Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.” (Jn. 12:26)
b. And Hebrews 6:10 adds: God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.
c. 1 Cor. 2:9 says: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.”
4. The glories and rewards of being with God in heaven are beyond our ability to comprehend, but we know that it will be worth being a servant of God.
Conclusion:
A. If we are going to learn to serve like Jesus, then we have to learn to think like a servant.
1. How does a servant think?
2. Let’s review the attitudes of a servant that we have studied today.
a. First, Real Servants Think more about Others than about Themselves.
b. Second, Real Servants Think Like Stewards, Not Owners.
c. Third, Real Servants Think About Their Own Responsibilities, Not What Other Servants are Doing.
d. Fourth, Real Servants Base Their Identity in Christ.
e. Finally, Real Servants Think of Ministry as an Opportunity, Not an Obligation.
3. What I want to challenge us to do this week, is to spend some time with this list of attitudes and to evaluate ourselves against them.
a. Which of these attitudes of a servant do you have a good handle on?
b. Which of these attitudes of a servant do you need to work on?
c. I would encourage us to pray asking God for insight and empowerment.
B. May God help all of us to learn to think like a servant thinks, so we can learn to serve like Jesus served.
Resources:
Improving Your Serve, Charles Swindoll, Word, Inc., 1981, Chapter 6.
The Purpose Driven Life, Rich Warren, Zondervan, 2002, Chapter 34.
