A Healthy Christian Self-Image (Pt. 3)
“I am a servant of Christ.”
If you have read Paul’s letters in the New Testament, it is not surprising he calls himself a servant of Christ. He even wrote this in 1 Corinthians 3:5 “What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one.” There Paul used the word “diakonos” a general word for one who waited on tables and served others. Here he uses the word “huperētēs.” The original meaning seems to be that of an under-rower in a warship. But the word came to mean a general servant or an assistant.
Again, this doesn’t seem prestigious, does it! But if you remember who you are serving -- The infinite Son of God, The High and Exalted King of the world, the One who now holds the title deed to planet earth, the One who has all power and authority granted to him from Almighty God, the Beautiful and majestic Prince of Peace, the loving and merciful Savior, the righteous and awesome judge of all mankind – well, then, in service to Christ you will find unending optimism, everlasting joy, and eternal value. You will find all the identity, security, and happiness your “Self” will ever need.
Here, working as a servant for Christ, laboring for His cause, getting your hands dirty on behalf of His eternal kingdom, advancing His message, humbling yourself under the mighty hand of God, knowing that in due time God will exalt you – you will possess the healthiest self-image on the planet!
Jesus’ teachings go along these lines, Mark 9:35 "If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all." Paul wrote in Philippians 2:17, “But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.” The Scriptures repeatedly challenge us to die to self – including our selfishness -- and think of others first. Christ served us by dying on the cross for our sins and rescuing us from Hell. Now I, with eternal gratitude, have the privilege of gladly serve Him.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, our service to Him is important. Notice Paul adds that he also is “a steward of the mysteries of God.” The term “steward” is “oikonomos” and means “one who manages a household.” In that culture, the steward was a special kind of servant. He oversaw all the resources of the house. Being a steward was important, but he was not a freelance operator. Stewards couldn’t do with the resources whatever they wanted. They were to do what the Master desired. Luke 12:42-43 reads, “And the Lord said, ‘Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.’”
As a steward, what did Paul manage? “The mysteries of God. Mysteries “musterion” in the Bible, such as back in 2:6, does not refer to something mysterious or imperceptible to the human mind or esoteric. It refers to something that was once hidden and now is revealed by God. A mystery is a secret God reveals in the Bible. Ephesians 3:3-5 “ … by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, … which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit.” The revelations of God – that is what Paul was entrusted with. That’s something quite valuable!
These refer to special revelatory truths contained in Scripture! They are of immense value in the saving of souls and glorifying God. These are things human intelligence cannot look into, and education does not yield. Only revelation gives us the thoughts of God. Paul viewed himself as a servant of God entrusted with the revelations of God. Since he was a steward of the mysteries, that implies he was charged with distributing them through his teachings. We as the church today are also the custodians and teachers of the Scriptures. What we do is important because of who we serve and because of the value of His word to the souls of men.
Do you see again, the healthy Christian self-image is not self-esteem? It is not about you! It is about who you serve! Self needs to fade out of the way. Self needs to be born again in Christ. Self needs to be eclipsed by the thrilling wonders of Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:15 “(Christ) died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” Paul says essentially, “We live to esteem Christ, and that is more than enough significance for us!”
The second insight helps us maintain a strong view of self.
Second, How I Live Affects My View of Myself v. 2
Some would teach that how we live or what we do or how we perform should have nothing to do with our image of ourselves. If we are saved due to our trust in Christ, then we are children of God, and that will never change. However, the Scriptures also teach that our behavior is supposed to reflect our identity, and when it does not, that dissonance affects us negatively.
Verse 2 points to required character, “In this case moreover it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.” Stewards are given a duty, and they have a responsibility to manage faithfully what they have been entrusted with. “Trustworthy” is the word “pistos” which is often translated “faithful.” The term denotes one who does what they are required to do. The servant/master image is in mind. The servant-worker does the work, and God will inspect the work and reward faithfulness. God is faithful to us. This epistle already declared that characteristic of God back in 1 Corinthians 1:9 “God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son,” Now God expects His servants to be faithful to Him. 1 Peter 4:10 echoes this requirement, “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”
Unfortunately, these days, it seems almost any criteria for feeling good about oneself overshadows that of faithfulness. People admire church leaders who are smart or funny or rich or good looking or great speakers or savvy marketers. God doesn’t care so much about that! The one thing He does require is that the servants are faithful. In this context faithfulness for Paul and Apollos would mean that they were to dispense Christ’s teachings and the mysteries of God correctly, thoroughly, and broadly. They were not to add their own ideas to God’s mysteries. Faithfulness in ministry is defined by saying what God says and by being true to God’s word. Ministers today who are inventing new theologies will not be found faithful when the Lord does His inspection.
Faithfulness demonstrated in our lives reassures our conscience that what we are doing matters and has value. If I try to esteem myself and feed my positive self, but I am not doing what I ought to be doing, it is hard for my conscience to believe myself. You can’t expect to have good feelings about yourself if you are living wrongly and then lying about it. Sin doesn’t help to maintain a good self-concept. Unfaithfulness in performance yields guilt, shame, and confusion. My faithful actions are necessary to yield a peaceful and joyful self. If I am doing what is right, my conscience is quieted and restful. No security alarm is sounding off to disturb me when I am faithful. Our conscience, affirmed by the indwelling Spirit of God, will commend our faithfulness to Christ and lead us to positive and satisfying thoughts of self.