Go Forth In Freedom

An airline executive was talking about how very difficult it is to recruit and train people for that industry. He said, “Service is the only thing, really, that we have to sell, but it is the toughest to teach. Nowadays, no one wants to be thought of as a servant.” If the executive is right, then this presents us with a serious problem. The Gospels make it perfectly clear that Jesus intended for each one of His followers to be precisely that: a servant. Moreover, one of the most striking things about the Gospels is that Jesus Christ — our Lord — described Himself as “servant.”

In the Old Testament, the Book of Isaiah speaks of the “Servant of the Lord” who will mediate God’s presence to the world. The Servant will be misunderstood. He will be rejected, He will be killed. These references are known as the “Suffering Servant” passages. And of all the Old Testament images Jesus could have chosen to apply…