Cross-Bearing Bondservants (Luke 14:25-34; 1 Cor. 6:15-20; 7:23)                                        2008.09.28    Dr. George Fox

Can anyone be a Christian?  From Scripture passages such as John 3:16 and John 5:24, it is clear that the Gospel invitation goes out to everyone, with no limit.  Indeed, everyone is invited to become a Christian.  However, in Luke 14:24-33, Jesus states categorically three times that you “cannot be my disciple” unless certain conditions are met.

There are two aspects to being a disciple.  First, a disciple is a learner who is attracted to a teaching.  He must like what the teacher is saying.  The essential second step to being a disciple is the aspect of being a follower – being attached to the teacher.  The example of the first disciples describes this aspect of following.  When Jesus invited the fishermen to become “fishers of men”, he was changing their life purpose.  Before, they would catch something living and it would die.  Now, they would be catching something that was dead and making it alive!  Being a disciple is necessarily a life-changing proposition.  John 8:31 states that IF you abide in my Word, you are my disciple; John 13:35 says that you are my disciple, IF you show love; John 15:8 indicates that you are disciples IF you bear much fruit.

The main message in Luke 14:27 and the parallel passage in Matthew 10:38 is that any love that takes precedence over Christ is idolatry.  The common interpretation of these passages is that Christians may face hardships and have to give up some worldly pleasures.  However, for the disciples to whom Jesus was speaking, these passages state somberly that following Christ means death.  Disciples are born again in a crucified state, loyal to Christ, having Him second-to-none, indisputable first.  Is there a difference between being a Christian and being a disciple?  NO!  In Acts (one of only three times where the term Christian is used), we see that all Christians are disciples.

The Bible uses the metaphor of a bondservant (Greek: doulos) to describe a disciple.  Bondservants were the lowest members of society, having no identity or worth of their own.  In Hebrew and for many of the Jewish forefathers, the term “servant of God” was used as a sort of “badge of honor”.  Luther also commented that the term doulos simultaneously conveyed modesty and majesty.  When Paul calls himself a duolos of God, he was saying that he had a servant’s heart.

A bondservant relinquished control, and had total allegiance, submission, and identity with his master – there is a sense of total “belongingness”.  Scripture uses several slave/freedom examples: before we are slaves to sin and free from righteousness; after acknowledging Jesus as Lord, we become free from the grasp of sin and are slaves to righteousness.  1 Cor 6 states that we were purchased by Christ, so we belong to Him.  The following chapter says that we were bought for a price, so don’t become slaves of man!  In Matthew 11, Jesus invites those who are weary and laden to find rest in him.  With this rest also comes the command to take his yoke.

There are several characteristics of bondservants:

No Will of his own: He does what he is assigned.  He is never asked the question about what he wants to do.  Christ displayed the perfect paradigm of a bondslave in that he delighted to do God’s will.

No Work of his own: All work is done for the master’s discretion, and the master gets all the credit for any achievements.

No Worth of his own: The servant has no identity, and his identity is pegged to the master.  For example, the servant of a senator would be “worth more than” the servant of someone notorious.

No Wages of his own: Servants are not paid.

No Witness of his own: Whatever the servant says would represent the master

Understanding these things, Paul humbly called himself a bondservant.  And there is one more characteristic of a bondservant.  He has no worries of his own!  Isn’t that wonderful?  All of the servant’s needs are provided by the master.

 This is true of us.  We are called to be Cross-bearing Bondslaves!  Christian-thinking has become compartmentalized, with people satisfied that they are “doing their part”.  Instead, let us do things for God’s glory.  Having a bondservant’s heart, do His work and God will get the glory.