Matthew 20:25* Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
The word in verse 26 for servant is διάκονος(diakonos) the word is literally transliterated deacon in most Christian traditions and the word for slave in 27 is doulos. We as a nation have broken off from other nations and established ourselves on not being slaves, which is kind of ironic when you think about it. Instead of submitting ourselves as good slaves, as Paul stresses over and over through his letters, we have grown stagnant and have struck back (i.e. basically every Revolution that has ever taken place violently by Christians dating all the way back to Constantine A.D. 325 when Christianity became legal.)
Colossians 3:22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.
Ephesians 6:5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.
We have forgotten submission. We got discontented and forced our way out of the submission. We try to justify it in so many ways but we forget that we are called to submission. The Israelites for example did not force their way out of submission but were delivered through the plagues. God commanded all of the Hebrews to bless the world over and over again.
To Abraham
Genesis 15 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."
To Isaac
Genesis 26:4 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, 5 because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws."
To Jacob
Genesis 28:14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.
We so often forget that part of the blessing that was put on the Israelites is that of through them the world will be blessed. Is that any different to what is supposed to happen through the Church**? We are to teach all nations. Why are we constantly being so arrogant to think we are worthy of a blessing? We should be asking God to Bless the world. We need to understand that the church is NOT America or an American thing. We are profiling and killing people at this moment that in all honesty probably look just like Jesus in nationality. We constantly throw out the old law of an “eye for an eye” but we neglect that Jesus took that to a completely different level pointing out that we are all murderers in our hearts.
Matthew 5:21"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' 22But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell…
38"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' 39But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
No one is worthy to take the life of someone else unless they completely IGNORE the words of Jesus. It makes us a hypocrite. How can we be followers of Jesus Christ and ignore Jesus Christ? When the followers of Yahweh grow large they will always be feared and lashed out at… but God will deliver (if you doubt this read Exodus a few times.) When we preemptively try to avoid being attacked it only causes a worse suffering of those who should be receiving a blessing from us (i.e. Abram saying Sarai was his sister and Isaac saying the same with Rebecca.) We need to quit fearing but instead embracing. We need to quit cursing the world and instead blessing them with the grace that we are not even worthy of ourselves.
Romans 3:21But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
*All scripture from TNIV
** By Church I mean ἐκκλησία (ekklesia) as in the body of Christ not an assembly.
