BROTHER LET ME BE YOUR SERVANT

Note: This week's blog is written by my dear wife, Kunda. She is by far the better writer of the two of us, so am sure you will enjoy reading this one. 

Recently I have been reflecting on a famous hymn; “The servant song’’, better known as “Brother let me be your Servant”. Written in the 1970s by a man called Richard Gillard. Though the song has undergone several alterations over the years, Matthew 20:26b- 28 provides the primary scriptural background for the song, it reads;

“…but Whoever decides to be great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave – Just as the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Many believers thrive on the idea of servanthood. Christ himself calls us to servanthood. He came not to be served but to serve. I will leave this here for now and let that simmer while I move on to my next thought.

In the book of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul writes to the church at Ephesus, now a combination of Jews and Gentiles who have believed in Jesus Christ and are now in him because of his finished work on the cross. Among other things, Paul instructs them on how they should live their lives as a result of their coming into the fold of God. In chapter 4, Paul implores them to walk in unity as a body. He further highlights the many different gifts that the body is blessed with by God so that the saints may be equipped, built up and that they may grow in unity, faith and the Knowledge of God.

In reflecting on the servant song, chapter 4: 11-16 caught my attention. It says;

“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine ,by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but speaking in truth and love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head-Christ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Among other things, this passage screams Service! Service! Service! Serving one another in unity to achieve a goal; to glorify God. Joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, to the effective working by which every part does its share. In this picture, every member is using their gift to serve in the body. Serving other believers and ultimately serving God.

There have been two points of reflection for me;

         Brother, let me be your servant; if Christ himself, the head of the body came not to be served but to serve who am I that I should not do the same within the body of Christ? The bible is asking believers to minister to one another and to do their part in the church according to their God-given gifts. Imagine what it would be if every single part of the body did its share as described by the Apostle Paul. Right now we are plagued with one-eyed, one-armed, peg-legged churches going about handicapped because there are parts that remain idle as if they have yet not met Grace. May God give me the grace to do my part wholeheartedly.

          I pray that I might have the grace to let you be my servant, too; this is an interesting one. The last time I mentioned this to someone they gasped. So if everyone is going around serving everyone, everyone should be giving and receiving, right? It is such a joy to serve others, and I think it is equally a joy to be blessed by someone’s service. There are many people who turn down service from others in the name of being a “servant”, being “polite”, a battle of the service as it were. The “no no no, I cannot take this”, or the “you take the seat, no you sit, no you sit” battle, or turning down an offer of help with chores, watching the kids, or running errands so you can rest. At times it is the refusal to ask for help when in need. The examples are endless. We all can think of a time when we needed some help, but we turned it down or even were too afraid to ask. Sadly sometimes our need to be the perpetual “service providers” denies us the opportunity to be blessed by the service of others who would like to partake in the blessing of serving. It takes humility to be on the receiving end. To be in need, and accept help, to ask for help. Why should this be uncomfortable?

The Church is a body. We are meant to depend on each other, to rely on each other. In God’s design, every member has a role to play, whatever your area of gifting is, whatever love compels you to do. We are pilgrims on a journey; we are brothers on the road. We are here to help each other, walk the mile and bear the load.

AWOL CHURCH MEMBERS

How often have we heard a sermon from Hebrews 10:24-25? The passage is often read or taught in the context of criticism or as some people would put it in an outright spanking from the pulpit. ‘Do not forsake the assembling of the believers’ is a well-known phrase among church people. However, have we ever considered what the context of the passage is? Alternatively, have you taken time to appreciate the argument of the writer in the broader context of the book?

The book of Hebrews has five warnings to the readers, urging them to persevere and not fall away from the faith that they have believed. In Hebrews 10:26-27, we find one of the warning passages. It is a warning of judgement and raging fire if one continues deliberately sinning, having received the truth, because they would be no sacrifice left. The verses before give us the antidote to this apostasy. Namely;

1. Worship - "Let us draw near"- verses 22.

2. Perseverance - "Let us hold fast" - verse 23.

3. Fellowship - "Let us consider one another"- Verse 24.

The writer argues that one way a believer guards against apostasy is by considering others and by stimulating others. What does that mean? So how does it work?

CONSIDER ONE ANOTHER

The phrase translated as to consider one another carries the idea of intentionally thinking or pondering about something. Not only should we deliberately think about others, but we should do so continuously. What should we be considering each other?

STIMULATE ONE ANOTHER

The believer should be in the habit of intentionally thinking of ways of stirring or provoking others. Interestingly, we usually are in the practice of inciting each other negatively. However, the writer here tells us that our goal is to intentionally think of ways to get others to grow in love & good works. How do we do that?

Firstly, we do not forsake the assembling of believers. While some have developed a pattern of absconding whenever believers meet, the believer who is serious about not falling away from the faith will not forsake the meeting of the saints.

Secondly, we stimulate by encouraging one another. One of the goals of meeting with the saints is so that we may come alongside one another and urge each other to persevere. We do not gather looking for ways we can be blessed or how others can meet our needs and desires. On the contrary, we do with a clear intention of being an encouragement to the brethren. We are considering specific people that we plan to stimulate to love and good works.

SOME IMPLICATIONS

1. Do not be a loner. "There is nothing more unchristian than a solitary Christian." John Wesley

2. Do not have a consumer mindset (do not use church). Do not gather with a self-centred focus.

3. Plan to be at church gatherings and make the most of them. I.e. be on time, talk to people, sing songs, and pay attention.

4. Do not think of church in terms of programs but people. The church is the body, get to know people and find ways of ministering to them.

Praising God for 26 years of FBCR

This past week we were celebrating and reflecting on 26 years of existence as a church. This allows us to praise God for his goodness and faithfulness over the years. The journey has brought tears of joy and sorrow. We have cried out in praise to God and equally cried out in grief to Him. We have heard testimonies of salvation and welcomed people into membership through the waters of baptism, but we have also heard confessions of sin from dear ones who have fallen and seen others depart from the faith with much grief. We have welcomed people who have become dear to the family and sadly bid farewell to others. In all the highs and lows, the Lord has been with us and led us by His grace. Here are a few points of reflection.

God always raises people for the time

It is amazing the number of people who come and go in the life of the church. You are welcoming and bidding farewell all at the same time. Some farewells can be quite discouraging because it means you are saying bye to dear people and usually to people who play a vital role or serve in some capacity. Such goodbyes can leave you deflated, however, that kind of discouragement soon proves to be foolhardy, because the Lord soon raises people for the time. This is either someone rising to the occasion or someone joining the church from somewhere else. In the Lord’s church, anyone and everyone are replaceable because God always raises people for the time.

The church is indeed a body

Every church whether big or small has people who serve in the limelight and those who serve in the background. Those whose roles are public and visible and others whose roles are private and unseen, though the results are always there for all to see. For the church to function effectively, you need everyone doing their role. We have seen how crucial it is for every member of the body to do their part. Let me illustrate from this past week. As I was working on the sermon during the week, someone worked to prepare the powerpoint for the songs, someone prepared the bulletin, someone beautified the church with flower arrangements, the music team met to prepare to lead us in singing, the ushers came early on Sunday to open and set up. During the service, two men went out and ushered cars so that there is proper parking, some people prepared food for our evening celebration, others set up the table arrangements and served the food, others coordinated the food to see who brings what and yet others cleared up afterwards. What a beautiful picture? I went home and sang, praise God from whom all blessings fall!

You don’t need to be big & rich to do missions

We are a relatively small church and we are not financially the biggest either, however from the very beginning, the people who started the church lead it to be missional and to consider church planting as a priority. By the grace of God, that has been the case. Indeed, a church does not need to be big nor rich to be engaged in the work of missions. The bible gives us an example of the Macedonians who in their poverty gave towards missions. It has been a blessing to see the church family grow in her commitment to missions over the years.

Growth is a steady and gradual process

All normal and natural growth is a steady, gradual process. No Christian suddenly grows into maturity from hearing one sermon, in the same way, no child grows into an adult from eating one healthy meal. Growth is a steady and gradual process. Being part of a church family and doing life together allows the family to witness the growth in each other’s lives. What a privilege that is ours as members. 

These and many others are the reasons we praised God for 26 years of His grace and kindness as a church. May His name be blessed forever!

Reflections on the 30th Zambia Reformed Conference

Last week my family and I attended the annual Zambia Reformed Family Conference, whose theme was “Cessationism and Confessionalism” on its 30^th anniversary. Every conference is unique in its own way. I am convinced that believers and families should make the habit of attending conferences for their spiritual nourishment. Pastors should also intentionally plan to attend conferences where they are not preaching and simply sit under the preaching of other men as well as interact with God’s people from different places. Here are the five points I took away from this year’s conference

Uplifting singing

There is something about singing that just lifts up your soul. Even more so, hearty singing from a 1000 plus voices in a packed room. It was encouraging to my soul to join in with the belting voices as we sang both old and contemporary hymns. It was truly a foretaste of glory divine. The simplicity of the congregational singing was also a great blessing.

Clear preaching

Sometimes preachers can overdo things. There are conferences which have more prose than form and thankfully this was not the case here. The preaching was done clearly and simply and the Lord used the preaching of the word to minister to my soul.

Unity of the brethren

The diversity at the conference is unmistakable. You have Zambians from all the 10 provinces and people from all over Africa and beyond. Each of them representing a variety of local churches. It is however remarkable how these ‘strangers’ to each other put their oneness in Christ on display. And each night when we gathered for the final service the singing reflected that oneness.

The Lord is building his church

Hearing from people from different places about their churches struck me how the Lord builds His church. In the midst of all the dark and gloom in our world, it is easy to think that the church is doomed and there is no hope for her. But on the contrary, the Lord of the church is building His church. I left the conference encouraged and energized.

The benefit of a panel discussion at a conference

One of the favourite features at conferences are well-moderated panel discussions featuring the speakers. A panel discussion is different from your traditional question and answer. Done well panel discussions give the speakers the opportunity to address questions raised from their preaching and also give further applicatory points. I have always felt that is something that this conference misses over the years I have attended it.

I was grateful for the opportunity to attend a conference that offers faithful biblical preaching and has done so for 30 years! My prayer is that may it long continue for the years to come.