“SERVANTHOOD” AS ONE OF THE VALUES OF THE UPCSA
Dear Fellow PresbyteriansWith a heart of service and spirit of servanthood, I bring to you the sixth and the last of the values of the UPCSA for your enrichment. I am happy to be your servant. I thank the servants that contributed to this issue.
Enjoy God’s blessing, the great talent in the UPCSA. As we do the count down towards the General Assembly in East London on 09 to 15 July 2016, let us pray for the spirit of servanthood. During and at the end of the Assembly and beyond, only God should be glorified.
SERVANTHOOD BY THE REV A NYONI. The Rev Nyoni is the Minister (servumservorum) at Khobonqaba Congregation, Adelaide, Amathole Presbytery.
SERVANT-HOOD: A PIVOTAL UPCSA VALUE
The etymology of SERVANT is from the old French, meaning a personal or domestic attendant, a foot soldier. It means to attend and to wait upon. In Greek, it is "DIAKONOS"(DIA- thoroughly, KONIS- dust) meaning a waiter, servant, administrator and literally, one who thoroughly raises dust by moving in a hurry, and so to minister.
SERVANT-HOOD DEFINED
Servant-hood is a state, a condition or quality of one who lives as a servant. What then is a servant? A servant is someone who thoroughly raises dust by moving in a hurry and submits to another. In the Christian sense, it is submission to God first and then to one another. A servant, therefore, seeks to meet the real needs of others or of the person they are serving. Servant-hood then means the condition or state of being a servant to others, of ministry to others rather than the service of self. It is willingly giving of oneself to minister for and to others and to do whatever it takes to accomplish what is best for another. If one serves others for self-love, it is hypocritical and selfish because it is in pursuit of personal significance through something like power, praise and status.
WHY IS THIS VALUE CRITICAL IN OUR CONTEXT (UPCSA/ COUNTRY)
In our quest for the mark of mature spirituality and leadership ability, Christians must not bypass that quality which so completely characterized the life of Jesus Christ, the quality of unselfish servant-hood.
The current generation has a pre- occupation with the self. For instance;
- the social and mainstream South African media is saturated with reports of racism where some races are self-serving thereby superimposing their identity, values, ethics, morals and ethos on other races.
- the experience of gruesome body twitching violence in service delivery protestations in areas, among others, such as Vuwani, Tshwane etc.
- race, gender, disability, religion and the list is long, discrimination.
- slogans in HOW TO DO BOOKS, like "be all you can be", "experience your potential", "turn lemons into lemonade", "secrets of a happy life" etc.
All these self-serving social ills enumerated above point to the fact that society is obsessed with the self because, implicitly or explicitly, the prime goal is OWN COMFORT, SELF EXPRESSION rather than growth in the quality of the life of the Saviour. Given, all the self-help slogans are important, but the challenge is that the conduct above takes off the heart of Christianity ie. knowing and loving God and out of this resource and relationship- living as servants in the power of the Spirit according to Christ's example.
Jesus Christ's salvific plan is that servants, even when in positions of leadership should seek and aspire to lead and influence others through lives given in ministry, for the blessing of others and their needs. Jesus came as a servant with a commitment to serve. If he had come to be served, then the, Christian redemption could and would never have taken place. The gospel according to St. Mark 10: 45 records that "the Son of Man came to serve and not to be served". St. Paul, in Philippians 1: 4 added, "Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interest, but the interests of others as well". Likewise, the failure by Christians to live as servants throws up a huge barrier to effective ministry as Jesus' representatives.
WHAT IS THE MOST COMMON CONCERN?
The most common concern is that people often serve others from their own neurotic need for approval or for significance. Our pre-occupation with our own significance robs us the ability to serve. Some people overtly demonstrate the Christian model but inwardly they are actually serving in order to feel and work towards serving the real needs of others and not their neurotic wants. St. John 6: 15 states that Jesus avoided self-centred societies.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SERVANT-HOOD IS ABSENT?
1) When people choose self-serving, a heart of self-seeking, which leads to consequences like jealousy, envy, disunity and division emanates and inadvertently develops. (Luke 22: 24 - 30).
2) People involved in the ministry, experience outright burnout. This could be brought about, to a large extent, by self-serving motives of self-seeking, self-imposition and self-gratification.
3) The absence of a servant heart leads to playing power games or spiritual King on the mountain and this naturally leads to bitterness, contention and division in the body of Christ.
4) Last but not least, the absence of a servant heart is the absence of humility. 1 Peter 5: 5 categorically states that 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’.
THE BIBLICAL IMPERATIVE
Since servant-hood was epitomized in Jesus, we as Christians should naturally expect a number of scriptural pericopae to explicitly deal with this issue. While space does not allow an in-depthexegetical analysis, it is hoped that the following rubrics would be noted; Matthew 20: 20 - 28 records the request of the mother of the sons of Zebedee to Jesus. It is important to note that people either seek to serve themselves (as in the request) - a choice which nullifies their capacity to live as disciples or learn to live as servants out of a faith relationship with God through Jesus Christ (as in the response). St. Matthew warns in chapter six that no one should serve two masters at the same time.
The overarching principle here is that the purpose of serving others is to set them free to love and serve God, not to make them our servants or to serve our wants and needs. We are all responsible to serve one another, but never in order to be served or to satisfy our immature cravings. When people fail to live as servants, as those committed to meeting the needs of others, there is absence of a deep down humility that is willing to pick up the servant's towel regardless of one's status or station in life: whether King or peasant, slave or free, rich or poor, strong or weak, brilliant or slow of mind etc.
SUMMING UP
To sum it up succinctly, the God of peace and comfort wants God’s children to have God’s peace and comfort, but God is more concerned about the character as expressed in servant living than our comfort. The Lord Jesus gave himself in redemption for us, to restore us to God and to create a people who would live as servants of God in service of others, proclaiming the good news and loving others for God.
Shalom.
SERVANTHOOD BY THE REV BZ MKENTANE.The Rev Mkentane is the Minister at Burnshill Congregation, Middledrift, Amathole Presbytery.
I am truly humbled by the request of the General Secretary, Rev Lungile Mpetsheni, that I make this contribution to the discussion on the value of “servanthood”.
The publication on the value of “servanthood” in July coincides with the celebration of the birth of the Stalwart of the century, the late Dr Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. Internationally, the 18th of July has been marked in various countries as Mandela Day, an opportunity for the world to pause for 67 minutes and remember the contribution of Dr Nelson Mandela in the struggle for betterment of communities. For 67 minutes, world and church leaders, communities and businesses dedicate their time and money in making a positive contribution in helping those who are less fortunate. There is no better time to talk about servanthood in the denomination, than in the month of July, so that we are all reminded of the noble contribution that Madiba made to South Africa, and the world.
Servanthood is a state of being a servant to another, or a quality of life where one serves the other. In the Christian context it refers to our service to the Almighty God, the Creator as well service to others. True Servant-hood has a vertical and horizontal dimension.
The value of” servant hood” is at the centre of the nature and mission of the Church of Jesus Christ. Isaiah prophesied about the Lord as the suffering servant of the Most High (Isaiah 53: 1 ff). Yet through the growth and development of the Church, the notion of servant has faded in the vocabulary of the Church. We no longer form images of ministry as a call to serve, but rather perceive of our call to the ministry as a call to positions of power, influence and privilege. The dominant motif in the Church and society at large is that of seeking to be served rather than to serve. We need to preach, teach and act in a manner that changes this paradigm and restore to the Church an understanding of her existence as a servant of the Christ and His people.
Focus on the value of servanthood must help us as a Church to look back to our roots, back to the “quarry from which we were hewn, back to the rock from which we were carved”, (Isaiah 51: 1ff) back to Jesus the Rock of our salvation. Jesus’ emphasis on serving the other, rather than being served, is a radical shift from the value system that dominated the world of his time and the present. Through his life and teaching Jesus showed himself as a Servant of the Father, totally obedient to the Will of God, even to the point of dying on the cross. Only when we model our lives after the life of Jesus, the foundation of our faith, shall we find meaning in serving the society. Everybody talks about the need for leaders who are willing to serve the people as the miracle cure for the social ills plaguing our country. As South Africa prepares for local government elections, political parties and civil society call for servant leadership. However, we must bear in mind that serving for personal interest or personal gain or reward, does not necessarily represent a “servanthood”. Only when we are anchored in Jesus as the source of our service to the community, the nation and the Church, can we truly understand “servanthood”. For Christ served without expecting gain or praise or any form of reward or recognition, he serve as an act of obedience to the Will of the Father.
Love as the source of true servant hood
What we learn from Jesus is that, he offered his life to serve humanity. The ministry of Jesus is beautifully explained in John 3: 16ff,“For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him, shall not perish but have internal life”. Jesus is to us a gift of love from the Father and he came “not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). The Bible teaches that our service to one another must be anchored in love. If we don’t love the people we will find it difficult to truly serve them. Brian Tracy puts it clearly, “the greatest gift you can give to others is unconditional love and acceptance” and Mother Teresa says, “If you judge people, you have no time to love them”.
Humility as the pillar of true service
The image of the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 is that of a lamb that is quiet before its shearers, humble with no effort to resist. This is the humility with which Jesus approached the cross as He understood that as a servant of the Most High God, he had to humble himself, even to the point of dying on the cross. Hence Paul in his Epistle to the Philippians says, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant.”(Philippians 2: 5-7). The Bible cautions us to have the same attitude that Christ had. Although in nature and likeness He was God, Christ took the form of not just a servant, but a slave, one who works for the master without laying any claim to reward or compensation. Servant-hood finds true meaning when it emulates that of Jesus which was anchored in humility. As Christ humbled himself and was lifted up by the Father, so should we humble ourselves so that God can lift us up at the right time. Humility comes before honour (Proverbs: 18vs 12).
Jesus teaching on humility and servanthood is best shown in his response to a request of the sons of Zebedee (Mark 10: 35ff). Jesus said to the disciples, “You know that the leaders of this world, like to put burdens on their subjects, but it shall not be so among you, whoever wants to be leader among you, must be servant of all.” In this way Jesus set a different standard for the Christian community which is different from the kingdom of this world. A new value system is introduced which turns upside down the values of the world. The Church of Jesus Christ, in general and the UPCSA in particular, is called to set a different standard of behaviour and service from that common in society. As ministers, elders, deacons, leaders, preachers, and members in general we are called to assert the role of the Church as an alternative community, which sets different standards from those of the society, and this needs to be visible in our daily lives.
Our service to society
What South Africa needs at the moment is change of mind set to embrace servanthood as a way of living our lives. The culture of materialism which dominates our society creates a sense of urgency to acquire and accumulate wealth to ourselves and negate the needs of others. Our modern day society including the Christian community is focused on making self-satisfaction and self-actualization as the main goal of human existence. (Hampton Keathly: 2004). While these are important, and they have a place in our lives, we should not allow such notions to over-shadow the primary purpose for which God through Christ has called us. Our call as Christians is to be the servants of the Most High God and through Him to serve and be of help to our broken society. Therefore, we should not preach the same message as the world preaches, but we must deliver a different message of mutual upliftment and servanthood. The completive and adversarial motif which dominates the public arena, propounded by the media, commercial establishment, public sector and even the Church produces a society where people will do anything to get to the top, to the extent of trampling on other people;whereas the values of the reign of God call us to serve and love our neighbours and to lift as we rise.
I believe that the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa, is better placed to present to the Southern African Community of Nations and to the world a model for human co-existence build on love, humility and servanthood as values and the ties that bind humanity. The quest for community of men and women partnering with God for sustainable communities and creation can only be realized when we embrace the value of servant-hood as a dominant paradigm in our relationships.
May God Bless the UPCSA, her leaders and members as they seek to serve God, humanity and creation for creation of a better and sustainable world.
SERVANTHOOD - LOVE PERSONIFIED. Compiled by Rev NA van Rooyen, Minister at St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Cape Town. Presbytery Clerk, Western Cape.
In the Collins English Dictionary the word “servanthood” is described as “the condition of being a servant.”
I am comfortable to look at the biblical account of Jesus as the perfect example of a humble servant and will be able to find many scriptures about the life and work of Jesus demonstrating the condition of being a servant. One verse that immediately comes to mind is the one in Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.” I am less comfortable with applying this to my life, because instead of projecting the condition of being a servant onto Jesus, I am now forced to introspection. How does love personified, Jesus the humble servant, apply to my life as a child of God?
Jesus used simplicity and everyday tasks to demonstrate the condition of being a servant. It was never about doing the task itself but about the love that flowed from his heart.
Therefore, I am going to expose my own weaknesses and struggles with the condition of being a servant by sharing a reflection in my diary on a particular situation in our congregation. I am aware that in doing this I make myself vulnerable.
Diary reflection - A day in the life of a servant - 6 June 2011
Today, Monday, my day off, I took (JCT) for an interview. I am not well. I have been running a temperature since Saturday, symptoms of cold and flu. The last thing I want to do today is take someone for an interview.
Background of the situation at hand: JCT is a Congolese male and husband and father to four beautiful children. I got to know JCT during the Xenophobia attacks in the townships in 2008. JCT had a nervous breakdown at the time and we could not find him after the police arrested him with a charge of disturbing the peace. We found him at a mental institution in P. He remained as a patient for some time and then returned to his family. The result of this was that it affected his family which left them penny-less and without shelter and food. We assisted JCT with his rental and necessities for the family. At this time, the youngest son was born. JCT went back to work and they continued with their daily routine, until he arrived for worship one Sunday and informed us that they have been evicted from their home. Home was one room for the whole family (three children, one infant and two adults) and sharing washing and cooking facilities with three other families. The family of God assisted JCT with the deposit for a new place and we were relieved and rejoiced that things were looking up for them as a family. The children were doing well at school especially the eldest daughter who loves school very much. Three weeks ago JCT informed us that the security company he is working for has not paid him for two months. I phoned the company and they assured me that he would receive the outstanding salaries on that coming Saturday. He indeed did receive some outstanding salary but only for one month. The rental is now due and in the meantime they have had to move because the rental they were in before they could not afford. Fortunately JCT took the deposit from the previous rental as a deposit for the new rental. Now it is the beginning of June and JCT has to pay his rent and he has not received his outstanding amount of money owed to him from his employer. So what to do? At our prayer time we discussed all options and opportunities. And we prayed. We gave JCT enough food and cash to last for the week. The situation at the time seemed hopeless and I was not sure whether JCT had a valid refugee status. I asked him to bring his personal documents on Sunday.