What Did Jesus Teach About Being Servants?

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. -Matthew 28:19-20

Update: February 13, 2011: As part of my Discipleship and the Torah class, I've made an audio recording of a class discussion on this lesson. Enjoy.

Leadership and Servanthood

This is the third part of my series on what Yeshua (Jesus) directed his Jewish disciples to teach the newly minted Gentile Messianic disciples to obey. It's also the second of a series of Yeshua's teachings in the Book of Matthew on Leadership and Servanthood. To summarize Part II: What Did Jesus Teach About Being Salt and Light:

In a nutshell, we learn that Yeshua taught that once we, as Gentile disciples, accept him as our Master and begin learning his lessons through being taught by Yeshua's disciples and by Torah study, we are supposed to pass the word along through the example of our lives and through our good deeds (Matthew 5:16) so that those seeing our light will praise God in Heaven. Learn from disciples. Learn from the Bible. Do good deeds. Be salt. Shine your light. Don't hide under a bowl.

That is what we can say about what Yeshua taught the Jewish disciples to teach the Gentiles disciples about being salt and light. Remember though, he also told the Jewish disciples to teach the Gentile disciples "to obey everything I have commanded you". In order to understand what everything means, we need to press on. After all, we've just scratched the surface.

As I go over my notes and look at what I've considered lessons in "Leadership and Servanthood", I realize they actually cover a wide variety of topics and could reasonably be considered to fall under different classifications or categories. On the other hand, being an example; being "salt and light", covers most of the things we do on a day to day basis. With that in mind, let's keep on exploring this topic and see what we, as Gentile disciples, are to be taught and to obey at the command of Yeshua the Messiah, especially about being servants and good examples.

Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. -Matthew 6:1-4

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. -Matthew 6:5-9

These two passages are artificially split into the topics of charity and prayer but Yeshua is really talking about the same thing: how we are to live out the commandments. On the one hand, giving to the poor is a commandment and an act of justice or righteousness. It doesn't take a doctorate degree in theology to understand this. Also, while we can't actually point to a commandment that says, "thou shalt pray to the Lord thy God", there is a great deal of precidence in the Bible to show that prayer is an expectation of God from us and part of our relationship with Him. Neither act is difficult to understand and here, Yeshua isn't telling us to give to the poor and to pray: those are "givens".

What he is teaching is not to make a big deal to other people about giving to the poor and to praying as if to say, "look what a holy and righteous person I am by how I give to the poor and how loudly and intensely I pray in public places". It reminds me of a parable the Master tells that I'm sure we've all read before:

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'

"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." -Luke 18:9-14

This should be an obvious lesson for just about any believer, but I continually see examples of people in the community of faith who spend more time exalting themselves than exalting the Messiah, especially from those in leadership roles. When you're put in the spotlight, even a very small spotlight, there's a temptation to use it to put on a performance. At first, you might think you're doing so in order to inspire others, but once you start hearing people say what a "holy person", you are, it can and likely will go to your head. Referencing the Master's words in Matthew 6:1-8, it seems he is saying that it's better to serve quietly and anonymously than to do so loudly and publicly. Whatever you do, even if it is to fulfill an obvious commandment, ask yourself if you're doing it for his glory or for your own?

"He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward." -Matthew 10:40-42

On the surface, you could say that Yeshua is talking about how, when someone receives you as a servant of the Master, they are receiving him. It would be nice to be treated as if we were the Master himself, but don't let it go to your head. Remember, to follow him is also to take up your execution stake and to suffer for the Kingdom. What he is also teaching is that even giving a cup of cold water to the least member of the Kingdom will be rewarded.

If you back up in the chapter to see the larger context, you'll see that Yeshua is asking for something special and something not entirely comfortable to most of us: he's asking to be more important to us than our father, our mother, our families, and even to endure the fact that some members of our own households might end up being our "enemies".

That doesn't mean we aren't to love our families and treat them well, but we aren't to deny the Messiah and to abandon the Master, even if some members of our family don't believe in or honor Yeshua. If you want to be a leader and a servant in the Kingdom of the Most High, this is the place to do it. Remember the Master also said:

"A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. -Matthew 10:24-25

This statement goes to the very heart of discipleship and what it means. We, as disciples of Yeshua, are not above him in any way, nor will we ever be above him. We should not exalt ourselves to even think we could approach the level of the Messiah. It is enough for we disciples to be disciples of the Master. It is enough for us as servants to be servants to Yeshua. It is enough for us as students to be students of our Teacher.

Conclusion: What did Yeshua tell his Jewish disciples to teach the Gentile disciples to obey about being servants and students, even if we're in roles of leadership?

1. When we are doing acts of charity in his name, don't make a big deal about our name.
2. When we pray, pray in secret, not in public so as to make a big deal about ourselves.
3. When we pray, don't pray loudly and babble on for hours at a time, as if we need to make a big speech to get God's attention. We aren't telling God anything new. He already knows what we need.
4. If we want to serve him, we must serve his people, from the greatest prophet, to the least of his servants, just as if we were serving the Master directly because, in fact, we really are.
5. If we want to serve him, we have to accept that some members of our family might not join with us in that service, and we are not to reject the Master, even for peace in the household.
6. Don't aspire to be as great or greater than our master. It is enough for us to be his servant, student, and disciple.

From the greatest evangelists and the most learned Torah sages, down to the people who do the dishes and take out the garbage in your church, synagogue, or congregation, we are all his servants and nothing we do should be designed to elevate ourselves in the eyes of men. The minute we start giving glory to ourselves instead of Yeshua, we've failed him. Remember, this is what Yeshua taught to his Jewish disciples and expected them to obey. Remember, this is what Yeshua taught his Jewish disciples and commanded them to teach the Gentile disciples to obey.

In a nutshell, for today's lesson, we learn that Yeshua teaches his disciples, all of us, to obey him by doing acts of kindness and righteousness for his sake and for the sake of others, but not to glorify ourselves. A student is never greater than his master and it is enough for us to be his students and to imitate him. When we are faithful and serve even the least or the weakest of Yeshua's servants for his sake, we are serving him.