It is hard to account for the impact of Paul the apostle on world history. How does one explain the phenomenal influence of this single Jewish rabbi who became a Christian missionary? What motivated the man who wrote one-fourth of the NewTestament and who planted the Christian gospel on the European continent?
One answer might be that he considered himself to be the servant of Jesus. “Slave analogies are the background scenery that fills Paul’s imagination,” wrote Mark Fairchild and Jordan Monson. In a recent article in Christianity Today, they point out how Paul uses the language of slavery to describe his calling and mission.
“Paul is obsessed with the vocabulary of slavery. In his writings, he speaks constantly of it: Of bondage. Of freedom, Of shackles. Of exodus. Of citizenship. The two most common openings to Paul’s letters are, ‘Paul, an apostle of Christ’ and ‘Paul, a slave of Christ.'” They even call attention to an ancient theory that Paul may have been born to parents who had been slaves and who had gained Roman citizenship through manumission.
Being a servant of Jesus Christ was not what Paul had originally planned to do with his life. He had begun as a promising young scholar studying theology in Jerusalem under Gamaliel, a leading teacher of Jewish law. His career as a zealous Pharisee was interrupted by an appearance of the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus. There he received his calling to be the slave of Christ.
He referred to this as “the commission God gave me” in Colossians 1:25. The word “commission” is a translation of a Greek word for household steward. In Roman culture, this word was used of a trusted slave who had been given an assignment as a household manager. It would have been an important position of great responsibility.
He also called himself a servant of the gospel (Colossians 1:23) and of the church (Colossians 1:25). The Greek word for “servant” in this context was used broadly in the first century for a household slave who was responsible for a variety of domestic duties. The word was later applied to church officers (deacons) who assisted in the ministry of caring for the needs of the members.
This same word is used repeatedly in Paul’s letters as an admonition to all Christians to serve the Lord Jesus by serving one another in love. If we claim to believe in Jesus and to follow him, then we have been called, like Paul, to be servants. Paul’s life, as a servant of Jesus, is a pattern for us.
“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ,” Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11:1. “Imitate me,” he said in 1 Corinthians 4:16. “Join with others in following my example,” he wrote in Philippians 3:17. Who on earth says things like this? Only someone whose example is worth following: a servant of the Son of God.
The test of whether we are truly servants is how we react when we are treated as servants.
Pastor Randy Faulkner