You’re Gonna Have to Serve Somebody
Mark Christian
Today may be a day that thought you would never see. Today, we will begin our lesson with a quote from that great theologian, Bob Dylan. I guess that if some of my teachers from Southern Christian were aware that I was using Bob Dylan as part of a lesson, they might change their minds about letting me pass some of those classes! Anyway, the following is from a song entitled “Gotta Serve Somebody”, and apparently, Bob may have been reading from the book of James when he wrote this.
(from Gotta Serve Somebody by Bob Dylan)
You may be an ambassador to England or France,
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance,
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world,
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.
We don’t always like the idea of serving someone, do we? Somehow, we get the idea that being a servant is beneath us, but the truth is, Bob had it right when he wrote, “…it may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna have to serve somebody”. The thing is, most of us would quickly choose to serve God if we thought those were our only choices, but the father of lies has many of us convinced that we don’t have to serve anyone; we can just do as we please.
Make no mistake about it: if you live to serve yourself, you are serving Satan. Don’t misunderstand me; I am not saying that you are Satan. I am saying that if you are trying to be self-serving, then Satan has you fooled. You are not serving yourself. In fact it is just the opposite. You are despising yourself by serving Satan instead of God.
Please turn to the book of James, chapter 4. We will be looking at verses 1-10 today, and contrasting two lifestyles. One is to serve fleshly desires; that is to serve Satan. The other is to humble ourselves to God, living a life in His service.
James 4:1-10
1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?
2 You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.
3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?
6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
"God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble."
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
In verse 1, James says that the fights and quarrels among us come from the desires that battle within us. The fights and quarrels are among us, the members of Christ’s body. The Christians who first received this letter had some issues with one another. They fought and quarreled with one another. I’m certainly glad that Christians today don’t fight and quarrel! (Tongue firmly in cheek) We would never let pride or envy come between us, because we are so firmly rooted in scripture that we couldn’t fight or quarrel. … Right!
Because Christ’s body is made up of men and women who still live in these fleshly bodies, Christ’s body struggles with fleshly desires. We are living a “dual life”. We are spirits, trying to live in agreement with the Holy Spirit within us, yet we still feel the desires of our fleshly selves. We can be proud. We can envy. We fight and quarrel with one another because we think we can handle things on our own. We try to be self-sufficient.
Look at what James says in verses 2 and 3:
2 You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.
3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
In other words, you want something so badly that you are willing to do anything to get it. You will turn your back on godly living to get what you want. You will do anything in your power to get it, but all your effort is in vain, because you are fighting against God.
Even if you ask God for something, you do so selfishly, trying to satisfy yourself.
In verse 4, James says that “you’re gonna have to serve somebody”.
4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
If being a friend to the world is being an enemy to God, then the lines are drawn. In the words of Bob Dylan, “It may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna have to serve somebody”.
I assure you, I put much more stock in the words of James than in the words of Bob Dylan, but this time, he hit the nail on the head. When we let our pride rule our lives, we serve Satan. When we let envy control us as we do anything to get what we want, we serve Satan. When we become a friend to the world and worldly ways, we serve Satan.
Before most football games there is a coin toss to decide which team will kick off first. One of the visiting team captains will call “heads” or “tails” when the official tosses the coin in the air. He only gets those two choices. He can’t hedge his bet in any way.
That is a very trivial parallel to our very weighty choice of whom to serve. We either serve God or we serve Satan. Those are our only choices.
As Jesus said, “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.” God is a jealous God. He wants all of you. That is you, singular. Yes, God wants all of you who are here today, but what I am saying is that God wants all of you, individually. He wants all of you, Jimmy. He wants all of you, Eileen. He wants all of you, Buck. He wants each of us to be completely sold out to Him. When Satan comes, wanting your attention, tell him, “God has bought all of me. There is nothing left for you.” That is so easy to say, but hard to do.
James goes on to write in verse 6 that “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Do you see where God draws the distinction? He opposes the proud; the self-sufficient ones who don’t need Him; those who think they can make it on their own; those who fail to recognize that all the blessings they enjoy came from Him. And he gives grace to the humble; the meek; those who willingly and gladly serve Him.
There are so many people today who are always in one fight or another. It seems that nothing ever goes their way. They are at odds with their Christian brothers and sisters. They want to serve God, but they quarrel with God’s children. They never seem to find peace. If you are living a life of turmoil, James writes a prescription for you:
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
Turn to God. Admit that you can’t make it without Him, then change your ways. Quit following the desires of the flesh. You will never be satisfied chasing money or power. Grieve for the way you have behaved. Mourn for your sin. When you come to God humbled, He will lift you up! He will give you true joy for the sorrow you bring to Him! You can’t achieve your way to satisfaction, but God will give you satisfaction in Him!
Now, you have a choice. “You’re gonna have to serve somebody. … it may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna have to serve somebody.” Make the right choice. If you try to serve yourself, or if you befriend the world, you are only serving Satan. Satan can’t satisfy you. You may enjoy your sin for a moment, but there is no lasting pleasure in sin. On the other hand, if you serve God, He will lift you up. He will satisfy your soul and give you peace beyond measure.
The truth is, if you truly want to be happy and satisfied, you can be. But you will not get there by trying to serve yourself. You will get there by humbly serving God.
(prayer)
