“I am a bondservant of the Lord.” So said Paul and every other New Testament epistle writer. Works-preachers ever since have been saying that we are God’s servants who serve so get busy serving.

And the result is a flesh-powered, fatigued and fruitless church.

You are not God’s servant. You are his dearly-loved child (Eph. 5:1, 1 John 3:1). You’re a son, not a slave. Big difference.

What does God need servants for anyway? He created the universe with a word. How exactly do you think you can serve him? Can you move continents and govern the tides? Can you keep the planets in their orbits? Can you create matter and energy?

“I put the chairs out on Sunday.”

That is a useful thing to do but it’s your job, not your identity. You are not God’s royal chair-putter-outer. You are his beloved child, who happens to put out the chairs.

It’s important that you distinguish your identity from your occupation.

You may be a preacher to millions or a telemarketer who rings people during dinner, but those are things you do. They are not who you are.

You could be the most awarded vocalist in history and everybody calls you “The Voice.” But you are not The Voice. You are much more than your gift. You are your Father’s beloved child.

Bondservants of Christ

When Paul et al. introduced themselves as bondservants of Christ, they were saying, “I serve people in the name of Jesus.”

For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. (2 Corinthians 4:5)

Jesus, the Son of God, took the form of a bondservant (Php. 2:7). He was not confused about his identity, but he was servant-hearted (Mark 10:45). He is the Son who serves. It’s the same with us.

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. (1 Corinthians 9:19)

Although we are free in Christ, we choose to serve in the name of Christ so that the orphans of this world might come to know their Father who loves them. Like Christ, we are the sons who serve. We do not serve to curry favor with God, but to reveal the Servant-king to people.

“I’m just a humble doorkeeper in the house of my Lord.”

No, you are not.

Jesus didn’t suffer and die to increase the size of heaven’s household staff. He did not come to recruit doorkeepers and maids as though heaven was some kind of Downton Abbey.

It is imperative that you get this lest you be tempted into dead works and fall from grace.

Draw near, doorkeeper

The psalmist who wrote those famous words about being a doorkeeper in the house of God (see Ps. 84:10) was unacquainted with the new covenant. He lived under the old covenant when no one got close to God. Back then, the best you could hope for was being a distant doorkeeper. But now, everything has changed.

Then: Stay away or die (Ex. 19:12, Num. 18:7)
Now: Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. (Jas. 4:8)

Thanks to Jesus, we see God for who he really is. God is not your employer or your boss. He is your heavenly Father and he wants you to approach him with confidence.

This is what makes the new covenant new.

So enough with the doorkeeper talk. Learn to speak the new language of the new covenant, which sounds like this:

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1)

When you pray, see yourself as talking to your Father who loves you and accepts you.

When you sing, see yourself as singing to your Father who loves you and accepts you.

And when you lie down at the end of a long day of putting out chairs or recording hit singles or cold calling people during dinner, see yourself resting under the smiling face of your Father who loves you and accepts you.

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