To Serve or Be Served
By Evangelist Paul Mershon
March 8, 2010

I am often forced to ask the question, “Where are the true servants of God?” It seems to me that we live in a day of unprecedented self-centeredness that tends to foment the lack of true servants of the Lord amongst those claiming the Name of Christ. Certainly there are those whose service is for all of the wrong reasons. There is a never-ending supply of those who serve God in the flesh and to be seen of men. There is a never-ending supply of hirelings who serve for all of the wrong reasons. It is an egregious fact that we have many men standing in pulpits all over America today who have forgotten the clear teaching of I Peter 5:1-4. “The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away” (1 Peter 5:1-4). It is a true adage that one can find many preachers but few real pastors. And what is true in the pulpit can be equally true in the pew. Truth be known, we have far too many takers and not enough givers within the ranks of modern Christianity today.

I have had the joy of mentoring several young preachers over the years, and for those men called to pastor I have always recommended the wonderful book by David Sorenson entitled, “The Art of Pastoring – The New Testament Principles for Pastoring an Independent Baptist Church”. God has used this book to establish in the hearts of many a young pastor a correct biblical perspective regarding the prosecution of his gift and calling. God has called the pastor to be a servant, not to be served, and men must be very clear about this truth before they take upon themselves the mantle of pastor. With all of this in mind, I wanted to share with you the following quote from Brother Sorenson’s book.

A pastor shepherds a local church.  Therefore, He gave the gift of pastors . . . The term “pastor” literally means “shepherd.”  A shepherd, on the one hand, is one who cares for the needs of the sheep on an individual basis.  On the other, a shepherd oversees the entire flock.  Implicit in the term is both individual care as well as oversight of the overall flock . . . .

For over twenty-eight years in the ministry, I have observed many fellow pastors as one of their colleagues.  With more than a quarter-century of perspective, I have noticed trends in ministries which seem to fit a pattern.  For example, I have witnessed numerous fellows who over the years have received a strong academic education for the pastorate.  Yet for some reason, they seem to struggle as pastors.  I have known others who are obviously talented.  However, like the old Chinese proverb, they went up like a rocket and came down like a stick.  Some have been able administrators.  Some have been able scholars able to produce fine sermons. Some have had great skills of oratory and are excellent pulpiteers.  Some have a knack for promotion.  Some are skilled soul-winners.  Others rose to positions of leadership in church associations or pastor's fellowships.  Yet for some reason, some of these same men had trouble in their churches.  Somehow their education, skills of homiletics, sermon delivery, church administration, or promotion over the long run do not impress their people.

The truth is, preaching and local-church program management, though necessary, really are of secondary importance to pastoring.  All pastors will preach.  But not all preachers pastor (though they may hold that title).  All modern pastors will to one degree or another administer the affairs of the church.  But being a successful administrator has little to do with the scriptural office of pastoring.  Most pastors, to one degree or another, will be involved in promoting the ministry of their church.  However, being a good promoter has little of nothing to do with being a pastor.

Conversely, I have known some pastors who did not have a particularly strong educational background in preparing for the ministry.  Yet, their pastoral ministries have greatly flourished.  This author certainly believes in young men receiving as much formal training for the ministry as possible while they can get it.  However, I have witnessed men who lacked such training who have been quite successful as pastors.  I have known others who were very average in their ability to organize and deliver a sermon.  Yet, they have had long-term, happy pastorates.  Others have had a lack of administrative ability.  Yet, their people loved them as their pastor. 

It seems in so many fundamental institutions in this generation, the focus is upon two areas: 

(1)  to train young men to preach, including all the necessary education for good exegesis, homiletics, and pulpit delivery.  Without a question this is necessary and of utmost importance.  To a lesser degree another area of focus seems to be (2)  training young men in local church program management, including church administration, program promotion, and all of the various "programs" with which local churches are involved.  Again, all of this is vital and important. I would not suggest anything less.

However, it is the view of this author how men young in the ministry or preparing for the ministry need to be trained in a third area.  That is (3) how to pastor people.  Without a question, it is crucial for a pastor to be skilled in preaching and the program management of a local church.  However, if he does not pastor his people, his ministry will neither be happy nor long in one place . . . .

Many good things can detract from pastoring.  It has been the observation of this author how many pastors are focused on things which may be good, but have detracted them from pastoring their people.  For some, it is an inordinate emphasis on scholarship.  Institutions of higher learning are by their very nature academic.  It seems professors tend to beget after their own kind.  In looking over the catalogue of a highly regarded seminary, more than 90% of their course offerings related to the degree of pastoring were academic in nature.  Their catalogue denoted “practical” courses, yet they comprised about 6% of the curricula required for graduation.  (Most pastors who have been out in the field for several decades will understand how in practice, the ministry is perhaps 75% practical and 25% or less academic.)  Nevertheless, some pastors spend the lion's share of their time in studying.  To be sure, adequate preparation for teaching and preaching is a necessity.  But for some, it obscures the greater ministry of pastoring their people.

I have known pastors of my generation who viewed themselves as the chief executive officer (CEO) of their church.  As the God-ordained overseer, to a certain extent they are correct.  However, some are so busy running the 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation over which they preside, also known as a church, they are too busy to pastor their people.  How many a church has several layers of secretaries insulating the pastor from his own people who wish to see him?  Pastors are busy.  However, woe be to the preacher who is too busy to take time for his own people who have need.

Some preachers are so involved with the affairs of THE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL they oversee, their ministry of pastoring the people to which God has fundamentally called them fades into the background. Most preachers will proclaim the principle how the church must take priority over the school.  And they are right.  However, in practice, they become so enmeshed in the complications of operating a Christian school within their church, the crucial matter of pastoring their people becomes secondary.

I have known other preachers who are gone almost every week for associational or fellowship meetings of one kind or another.  They may be officers in these groups or they just go for the fellowship.  But the simple truth is they are gone.  I once had a frustrated friend complain that his pastor was gone every Monday for various and assundry associational or committee meetings.  When he was back in his office on Tuesday, he was crabby from the stress of traveling to the meetings the day prior.

My father pastored his people.  He was always there when his people needed him.  Nothing took precedence over meeting their needs and encouraging them. His door was always ajar.  Over the years, he often lamented to me how he wished he had more time to visit his own people.  Though he was always there when they were sick or had other crises in their lives, he desired to make “routine” pastoral visits upon them.  Whenever he sensed a member of the church was beginning to drift or had need in their lives, Dad was at their door.  He would stop and visit with them, pray with them, and encourage them . . . . he made it a practice to make short “drop-in” visits upon people of the church.  For fifty years, Henry Sorenson made countless thousands of calls upon people of his congregations just to “pastor” them.  He got to know their homes and needs because he had visited with them.  He already knew about their problems when they did come for counsel.  He had already been to their homes - numerous times - for prayer and encouragement . . . . A pastor will be there when his people need him . . . . (From, "The Art of Pastoring - New Testament Principles for Pastoring Independent Baptist Church," by David Henry Sorenson)

All of us who have been washed in the Blood of the Lamb have been called to serve, not to be served. We need to be very clear about this. Service to others must never be viewed as a sacrifice. One missionary was heard to say that his service was never a matter of sacrifice, but just a matter of his reasonable service (Romans 12:1). Considering what Christ has done for us on the cross, we should count it all joy to serve Him in service to others without complaint or bitterness. With this in mind, please consider the following thoughts.

"NOW before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.  And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him; Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.  After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciple's feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.  Them cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?  Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.  Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.  Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.  For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.  So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?  Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.  If then, your Lord, wash your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.  For I have given you AN EXAMPLE, that ye should do as I have done to you.  Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent is greater than he that sent him.  If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them” (John 13:1-17).

“Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.  Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:3-8).

Each and every time I have meditated upon John 13:1-17, I have had this stunning scene manifest itself in my mind's eye, and have come away with a renewed understanding of what it is I am to be as a servant of the Lord.  There is much here in this passage that is typical, but there is also much here in this challenging passage that has deep practical application.  By His example, the Lord Jesus was teaching his disciples what it is to take the place of a true servant.  By example, he was teaching his disciples what it is to humble oneself as he or she serves others.  Though several well-meaning groups have misinterpreted this thing of foot-washing as an ordinance of the church, the Master never designated it as such, nor did He command that it should be should be observed in the assembly of believers.  Certainly there are those who do so, and usually it is done in conjunction with the Lord's Supper.  But the only two ordinances given to the local church to observe and oversee are believer's baptism by immersion, and the observance of the Lord's Supper.  There is no prescribed ordinance for foot-washing.  When Jesus washed the feet of His disciples, He made it plain that He was establishing an example of service to others in humbling Himself in this manner.  He clearly said, "For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you." The example given was that of service to others, and the humility that ought to mark that service.  This beautiful example of service ought to serve as a reminder to us what real Christian service is all about.

In the days of Jesus earthly ministry, it was the common and accepted practice to wash the feet of one's guests when they came into one's home.  It was a custom that demonstrated hospitality along with a secondary concern for hygiene.  In that day folks wore some form of open-toe sandals, or similar footwear.  The streets were not paved as they are today, and there were no concrete sidewalks.  The citizens of the nation of Israel walked through dust and debris of all kinds.  It was not uncommon for them to walk where beasts of burden, and other animals, had relieved themselves.  At some point after entering the house of the host, a servant, often the lowliest servant on the household staff, would take towel and water and wash the guest's filthy and defiled feet.  Sometimes this would occur when the guest or guests reclined at table in preparation for the meal that was to be served.  Certainly this was not a very palatable duty.  What a humbling thing this must have been for the servant who performed it in the host's quest to make his guests comfortable.  Think of it.  The Lord of Glory, the King of kings and Lord of lords performed this humbling service for His disciples.  "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant . . . ."  What a wonderful example we have here in Christ Jesus as He sought to teach His own the godly principle, not of mere servitude, but service to others.  In this day and age of rampant narcissism and self-glorification, it is indeed a rare thing to find men and women who have followed the example of the Master . . . .

. . . . We have missed the message of Philippians 2:3-8, in which we find the mystery of the "Great Kenosis," that the Lord Jesus Christ emptied Himself, making Himself of no reputation, "and took upon him the form of a servant," a "doulos," a "bond-slave" for others.  And that is the great message of Philippians chapter 2 - "OTHERS." To seek to serve others is to deny self - to empty oneself of all claims to any position of prominence in ministering to others.   Oh, how unlike Christ Jesus we often are when it comes to our service to others.  The ministry IS others! . . . . (From my article entitled, “The Doulos Spirit”)

. . . .The last word of this section (Philippians 2:1-4) is the keynote - "others."  This was the overpowering, dominating note in the life of our Lord on earth, and because of this he died.  "He came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for" - others!  He lived for others; He died for others.  Selfishness he knew not.  Unselfish devotion for the good of others summed up His whole life, and all in subjection to the Father's will.  For God, the Father Himself, lives, reverently be it said, for others . . . . He gave His Son for others; and having not withheld His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not with Him also freely give us all things? - we, who are included in the others  for whom the Lord Jesus Christ endured  so much.  What wonder then that, if we would follow His steps, we find ourselves called upon to live for others, and even to lay down our lives for the brethren!  (From "Note on the Epistle to the Philippians," by H.A. Ironside)

I once heard a godly pastor say from his pulpit that God's people should never do anything for one member of the body (the local church) what they would not do for another.  Using I Corinthians chapter 12 as the basis for his thought, he spoke of all the members of the body bestowing the same measure of honor one upon the other.  Indeed, he pointed out that those least esteemed in the body ought to have an extra measure of attention given to them.  "Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:  And those members of the body, which WE THINK to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.  For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked" (I Corinthians 12:22-24). 

Beloved, let us humble ourselves as He was humble, and adopt for ourselves the "doulos spirit."  As we serve the Savior, let us do so with a broken and humble spirit, and with a genuine desire that in our lives, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). Anything short of this will send all of the wrong signals in a day when we need more servants with the "others" spirit than ever before. (From my article entitled, “The Doulos Spirit”)

In the final analogy, what is your heart in this matter? Is it your desire to serve, or be served? Please consider the servant’s spirit of the Apostle Paul as he addressed the carnal and oft-times stingy church at Corinth.

“And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you . . . “(2 Corinthians 12:15).

Ah, the true Doulos spirit!