A Willing Servant??
What does it mean to be a willing servant? Is a willing servant someone who do a job without complaining? Possibly. Is a willing servant someone who offers to do a job for another? Maybe. Is a willing servant someone who takes on as many jobs as possible? Could be. What truly comes to mind when we in modern society here of someone being a willing servant?
In today's society a willing servant that comes to my mind is a 'Candy Striper' from a hospital. A non-medical volunteer at a hospital that is just there to give their time and to help out. A Candy Striper volunteers with smiles and a great attitude. A Candy Striper volunteers at the hospital but does not do any medical proceeders.
A second group of people that come to mind for me is the military. There is no draft requiring service or judges telling men and women to enlist. Which means that every person who is serving today has willing raised their hand and said "I will defend this country with my life." With the country still at war, this is amazing too me.
A final group of willing servants is the Church. Across the history of the Church we find that members have been willing to stand up and serve no matter the consequences. For the Early Church the consequences were often fatal, but that did not stop those people. There are plenty of accounts of Early Church members being murdered for just talking about their faith. Yet, through all of this the Early Church continued to grow and spread because of the willing servants.
Although, for most of the Church today just the thought of a mean look will be enough to keep them quiet. Which leads me to the question is the Church today really a willing servant? The Church is more than willing to give clothes to a box, where clothes can just be dropped off. Or fill a shoe box that is shipped around the world to a needy child. These are great ministries and need to be continued by the Church. Yet, can the Church honestly go on without looking a person is the face and talking about Jesus? Can the today Church today truly take persecution like the Early Church?
The book of Acts is full of men and women who are willing servants. The people walked forward and served the Lord. We as the Church today has been given a great example in the past and need to follow it. Also, we have a job of teaching the next generation of how to be a willing servant. At this job we cannot fail!
**To the Ends of the Earth**
Red Beards