Serve One Another

The Waiter Rule - (http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2006-04-14-ceos-waiter-rule_x.htm)

• "The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good." - Abigail Van Buren

"Freedom in Christ" - We are slaves to whatever we choose to obey - either to our sinful nature, serving ourselves, or to God, expressed in loving and serving others.

Galatians 5:13 - "Use your freedom to serve one another in love."

For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.

1 Peter 4:10 - "Use them (your gifts) well to serve one another."

God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.

Definitions:

• Doulos - a slave, bondman, man of servile condition,a) a slave; metaph., one who gives himself up to another's will those whose service is used by Christ in extending and advancing his cause among men; devoted to another to the disregard of one's own interests; a servant, attendant (http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G1401&t=KJV)
• Diakonos - one who executes the commands of another, esp. of a master, a servant, attendant, minister, the servant of a king; a deacon, one who, by virtue of the office assigned to him by the church, cares for the poor and has charge of and distributes the money collected for their use; a waiter, one who serves food and drink (http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G1249&t=KJV)
• Diakoneō - to be a servant, attendant, domestic, to serve, wait upon; to minister to one, render ministering offices to, to be served, ministered unto; to wait at a table and offer food and drink to the guests, of women preparing food; c) to minister i.e. supply food and necessities of life, to relieve one's necessities (e.g. by collecting alms), to provide take care of, distribute, the things necessary to sustain life, to take care of the poor and the sick, who administer the office of a deacon, in Christian churches to serve as deacons; to minister, to attend to anything, that may serve another's interests, to minister a thing to one, to serve one or by supplying any thing (http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G1247&t=KJV)

Mark 10:35-45 - "Whoever wants to be a leader… Son of Man came not to be served…"

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do us a favor.”

“What is your request?” he asked.

They replied, “When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.”

But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?”

“Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!”

Then Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup and be baptized with my baptism of suffering. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”

When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Matthew 23:11-12 - "The greatest among you must be a servant. … Those who humble themselves will be exalted."

The greatest among you must be a servant. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

1 Peter 5:1-5 - To Elders - "… because you are eager to serve God. … serve each other in humility… God opposes the proud but favors the humble."

And now, a word to you who are elders in the churches. I, too, am an elder and a witness to the sufferings of Christ. And I, too, will share in his glory when he is revealed to the whole world. As a fellow elder, I appeal to you: Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example. And when the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor. In the same way, you younger men must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, serve each other in humility, for “God opposes the proud but favors the humble.”

Philippians 2:3-7 - "Thinking of others as better than yourselves… took the humble position of a slave…"

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.

Colossians 3:23 - "As though you were working for the Lord rather than people."

Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.

2 Corinthians 4:5 - "We ourselves are your servants for Jesus' sake."

You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake.

John 13:1-17 - Jesus washes His disciples feet

Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end. It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.

When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”

“No,” Peter protested, “you will never ever wash my feet!”

Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.”

Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!”

Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you.” For Jesus knew who would betray him. That is what he meant when he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.

Jesus is our example of the God-centered, others-oriented life. We need a radical transformation from the inside out. This is only accomplished by dying to self, and living for Christ.

• Luke 9:23-24 - Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.”
• Galatians 5:24-25 - Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
• Galatians 2:20 - My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
• Romans 6:11 - So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 5:11-21 - We are ministers of reconciliation

Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too. Are we commending ourselves to you again? No, we are giving you a reason to be proud of us, so you can answer those who brag about having a spectacular ministry rather than having a sincere heart. If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit. Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.

So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.