Tag: Service

Slaves + Saints: The Essence of Christian Partnership

It’s not very common these days to receive a physical letter in the letterbox. I’m not sure about you but what usually arrives in our letterbox is bills, junk mail, or some political party telling us what they’re going to do if they are elected. But on occasion, perhaps for a birthday, there might be a short letter written from one of the grandparents. And there’s still an excitement that comes from receiving a handwritten letter from someone. It shows they care; it shows they are thinking about me, and it shows they have gone to a bit of effort and cost to get it to me. 

As Paul opens his letter to the Philippians, we can hear the care, the thought, and the effort that Paul goes to show his joy and affection for this church. And knowing that the church in Philippi is aware of Paul’s imprisonment (1:13) and their worker Epaphroditus is with them and has been sick (2:25-30), I suspect they would be very excited to have received this letter. Then, upon opening and reading, they would have been buoyed by the genuine thankfulness, emotion, and love Paul expresses to the church right from the beginning. 

And so, from the beginning of a Paul’s writing here to the Philippians, we find this letter to be one of genuine partnership. 

Unlike the letters or emails we write, in which we state the recipient’s name and ask them how they are, Paul follows first-century letter-writing custom of stating his and Timothy’s name before giving a little greeting to the church. 

And it’s easy to skip right over these little greetings at the start of the letters we have in our Bibles. Here in Philippians it’s worth noting a couple of things. 

Slaves of Christ

First, notice how Paul identifies himself and Timothy. 

We read, “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus” (1:1).

In the NT it is common to translate the word used here as either servant or slave, and this can be the case here. In our minds, ‘servant’ is a little softer to our ears and imaginations than ‘slave’, but for the church in the Greco-Roman world, this idea of being a slave was a common marker of identity. Slaves in homes, business, or on farms were part of life. And so the idea of being bound to someone else was not a foreign idea as it is for us today. Therefore, when Paul calls himself a “slave of Christ Jesus” he is identifying himself with Christ. He recognises he is bound to Christ. He knows he is under the authority and Lordship of Christ and at his service. 

Saints In Christ

Second, notice how Paul identifies the church.

We read, “To all the saints (NIV: God’s holy people) in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons.” 

Paul uses another couple of identity markers, this time for the people of God at Philippi. Those who have turned to God through Christ are called ‘saints’ or ‘God’s holy people’. Paul acknowledges those within the church, despite their non-Jewish background, are in the continuing line of God’s people. They are being set apart for God, which is a familiar description in the OT of this term ‘saints’ (Exodus 19:4-6; Psalm 135:3-4). This is a little marker of their identity and a helpful reminder in how they should think of themselves. 

I wonder how you think of yourself? Are you a sinner or are you a saint? 

We live in the tension of knowing we are sinners while being assured of the truth that we are in Christ. Through faith in Christ we are considered the people of God, the saints of God. We are the holy people of God who are in Christ Jesus. Paul writes this regularly as he opens his letters to the Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Colossians, and here in Philippians. And while we continue to fail, continue to sin against God, we can know that we are saints in Christ because it is Christ who has decisively dealt with our sin on the cross. 

This should be the regular way we think about ourselves as believers, as saints. 

After writing about reconciliation and peace with God through Christ Paul writes in Ephesians 2:19-20:

19 So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.

If you are struggling with sin or struggling with God’s acceptance of you because of your sin, then I encourage you to dwell on what it means for you to be a saint. For that is what you are in Christ Jesus.

Leaders Under Christ

Alongside this identity marker of being saints is Paul’s reference to the overseers and deacons. These are leaders in the church at Philippi and he wants to make sure they listen to the content of this letter as well. 

In chapter four Paul encourages two female leaders within the church to agree with one-another in the Lord (4:2-3), but more than this Paul is highlighting how the message of this letter is for the whole congregation. There is no separation between the leaders and the rest of the church. They are together the people of God, no one is more special than anyone else. This letter isn’t just for a certain segment of the church, but everyone is called to walk the same walk as each other. 

We often see this occur in churches, where leaders are put on a holier-than-thou pedestal. But those who are in leadership are no more special in the eyes of God than anyone else.

At the church where I pastor I, and the rest of the pastoral team, sit under the teaching of scripture just as much as anyone else. We who are involved in the leadership of the church may have certain responsibilities placed upon us because of our roles, and according to Hebrews 13:17 we will need to give an account before God in due course. But our prayers don’t make it to God any faster, our sins still need to be repented of, confessed, and forgiven through Christ. Our conduct still needs to be worthy of the gospel (1:27). 

Here at the beginning of this letter, even in these first two verses, we see the beginnings of what is a special partnership. A special partnership that already speaks into our identity with God and with one-another.

This post is part of an ongoing series where we will dive into the themes, messages, and lessons found throughout the book of Philippians. For earlier posts please see:

Published: Easter Reflection – Cleaning Feet

A little reflection piece I wrote about Easter was just published on the TGCA site.

You can find it here.

“Through his death on the cross Jesus has not just given us a symbol of humility and service but has acted in humility and service toward us. Jesus’ death provides us with the cleanliness we need. His death is the sacrificial service for our sin. It is an act that cleanses us. As Jesus washing his disciples feet, making them clean; so too Jesus’ death washes our hearts and makes us clean from sin.

As we solemnly remember the death of Jesus these next hours, as we enter into the remembrance of our Lord’s death, may we come to a new appreciation of this great act of humility and service, for us, for our neighbour, and for our world.

And boy, don’t we need it.”

You can read more articles I’ve written elsewhere here.

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The Forgotten Leader

In chapter 40 of Genesis we read of Joseph in prison.

He’s in prison because he’s been falsely accused of sleeping with the wife of Egypt’s 2IC (second in charge). But chapter 40 tells the story of Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker, who are also in prison with Joseph, having dreams that need to be interpreted.

Joseph seems to have risen to prominence, even within the prison walls, as he is tasked with looking after these two men. Having shared their dreams with him the cupbearer and baker ask Joseph to interpret them, which he does. When Joseph interprets positively for the cupbearer he asks him to remember him and speak highly of him to the Pharaoh. When these things happen the cupbearer is released and finds himself back in favour with Pharaoh.

The final verse of the chapter reads,

“Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.”

This sparked a thought about how we often forget those who play a significant role in our lives.

The Forgotten Leader Post

We all tell ourselves a certain narrative of the way things are, of what has happened in our lives. We are able to remember significant things, turning points, and people in our lives. But then, there are all those people we have forgotten, people who may have only had a small part in our lives at some point.

When we think about our own walk with Jesus we often have key people who are part of that journey. We might remember a youth pastor, or a youth leader that connected with us regularly, or maybe someone older in the church who asked how we were every now and then. Sometimes though we forget those other people who were around and part of the ministry; they don’t seem to play a role in our narrative.

This is often what it is to be a youth leader. It is often the case that we can be forgotten.

We become a forgotten leader. 

The forgotten leader isn’t any less significant. I often think it is better to be the forgotten leader than the one who goes down in a blaze of glory, remembered for all the wrong things they did.

The forgotten leader is someone who serves without expecting to be needed in years to come. They serve in the youth ministry (or any other for that matter) week in and week out. They continue to grow in their relationship with God, and students come and go through the programs with the forgotten leader faithfully serving.

This kind of leadership is certainly not what our culture expects. We want youth leaders that are flashy, that are bold, that are magnetic. But often these kinds of leaders don’t last long. Soon enough they’ve had their fill and move on to another place where a new set of people will attach themselves to them.

A forgotten leader is someone who is counter-cultural and at their heart a servant. They get on with the job of connecting with God and connecting with students, doing the task they have been given for that season. Their work often goes unseen, they help with setup and are often packing up well after the parents have picked up their children.

A forgotten leader is a servant leader; doing the one-percenters make the ministry work and being faithful to do what God has asked them to do. In this way the forgotten leader lowers themselves, not seeking first place, but highlights others before themselves.

When Joseph is forgotten by the cupbearer he was performing the task that God had asked him. The issue isn’t that he was forgotten, it’s about how he was faithful to God.

May you be a forgotten-faithful leader this year.

Book Review: Adoniram Judson by Jason G. Duesing

Judson bookThe last book I can remember reading that had such an impact on me was in my later university years. I read a young adult version of the biography of Jim Elliot, a missionary martyr to Ecuador. His life and faith were an inspiration as I worked out my faith during my university years and spurred me into the world of missions.

That was over 10 years ago now.

So it seems very few books I read spur me into greater action and reflection. Most books invite me into the story and may give good information about a particular person or period. But I can’t think of more than a handful of books I’ve read that spur me into action and greater obedience to God.

But the book Adoniram Judson: A Bicentennial Appreciation of The Pioneer American Missionary by Jason G. Duesing, is one of those books.

This book isn’t written by one author. We could say it’s a collection of essays combined to give an excellent picture of Judson’s life and ministry. The book goes deep into his early life, his Christian life, his missionary life, his married life, and the influential life he led.

It is a wonder as to why I hadn’t previously read a book about Judson. He is highly esteemed, particularly by those in America and the missions world. He is recognised as the father of American missions. The little I previously knew was from John Piper’s biographical message on the man from 2003. Yet in this written volume, with references to his and his wives’ journals and letters, there is a terrific account of this “mighty man”.

Three main areas I saw highlighted in the book were Judson’s faith in the sovereignty of God, endurance through suffering, and commitment to long-term missions service.

Sovereignty
The faith Judson and his wives’ had in God is simply an inspiration.

I say wives because Judson ended up having three. Ann and Sarah, his first two, died during his lifetime and Emily passed away only a few years after Judson himself died. I feel this needs to be clarified so there is no miscommunication. 🙂

But all four individuals were wholeheartedly followers of Jesus Christ and sought to be obedient to His call, wherever that led. This begins with the conversion of Adoniram Judson soon after hearing one of his good friends from university die in the room next to him. He literally heard this man passing away during the night and upon finding out who it was the next morning was thrown into turmoil about his own soul.

Judson sees the light and the graciousness of God through his Son and clings to the cross for forgiveness and salvation. He realises that it is only the cross that can bring true salvation. The trust he has in God at this early stage is evident. The way God’s hand guided him from being the son of a Congregationalist minister into atheism through university and then into a living, vibrant, and heartfelt faith when he was 20 years old is clearly seen. God’s sovereignty is at work.

With this as the banner of his life he pursues a life that will count. He seeks to see others come to know God through his Son, so that they too may see salvation through the cross.

He trusts God in his studies, as he heads to theological college without an active faith. Over the course of his studies he converts and has an unrivaled desire to be a missionary is Asia. He trusts God as he seeks a wife and proposes to Ann Hasseltine, loving her and trusting she will be willing to come with him to Burma and the East. In a letter to her parents, seeking to begin a relationship with her, he very early on describes his intentions for life and what that will mean for them and their daughter. In July, 1810, he writes,

I have now to ask, whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next Spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her departure, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of missionary life; whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean; to the fatal influence of the climate of India; to every kind of want and distress; to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death. Can you consent to all this, for the sake of him who left his heavenly home and died for fer and for you; for the sake of perishing immortal souls; for the sake of Zion, and the glory of God?

As they travel he trusts God’s plans as they make the controversial but convicted decision to become Baptists after studying the scriptures. In the four months from leaving the American shores he and his wife Ann see the truth in Believer’s Baptism and are baptised themselves by colleagues of William Carey in India.

In his first marriage with Ann, and consequently the ones following, the sovereignty of God is central to their faith and obedience.

Suffering
Judson and his wives’ suffered immensely. He saw the death of two wives, the death of over five children, and the death of colleagues in the mission work. He was imprisoned for nearly two years by the brutal regime in Burma at the time. When he lost his firstborn son he wrote:

Our little Roger died last Saturday morning. We looked at him through the day, and on the approach of night we laid him in the grave. This is the fourth day, and we just begin [sic] to think, What can we do for the heathen? But yet it seems hard to forget little Roger so soon, to force off our thoughts from the attractive, painful subject, and to return to our usual employments. O may we not suffer in vain! May this bereavement be sanctified to our souls! and for this I hope we have your prayers. (p88)

Ann experienced the same difficulty. In a letter to her parents, she expressed her confidence in God’s sovereign goodness, even in the death of her child:

We do not feel a disposition to murmur, or inquire of our Sovereign why he has done this. We wish rather to sit down submissively under the rod and bear the smart, till the end for which the affliction was sent shall be accomplished. Our hearts were bound up in this child; we felt he was our earthly all, our only source of innocent recreation in this heathen land. But God saw it was necessary to remind us of our error and strip us of our little all. Oh may it not be in vain that he has done it. May we so improve that he will stay his hand and say, ‘It is enough’. (p88)

What inspiration and trust in the Lord!

Added to this is the ridicule he received from the local Burmese. It took seven years into the work before the Judson’s saw a convert. The constant health issues and lack of ‘success’ in the conversion of the people he sought to reach, and the death and disease he saw drove him to leave the main town he was living in and live by himself, in the jungle, sitting and staring into a shallow grave he had dug.

Thankfully it was the years after this that Judson saw the fruit of his work but the suffering had an effect, as one could expect.

Service
The commitment of Judson and his wives’ have had a lasting impact on the lives and ministry of those who have gone after him. Their service of nearly 40 years, with one furlough back to America, is something to behold in the modern day. I understand that this was a different era, but the long lasting commitment of Judson and his wives attest to the fruit from long-term service.

As mentioned, they didn’t see a convert for seven years. They experienced great suffering in their own lives and also saw it among the people they served. Yet, they continued to work in building relationships and translating the Bible into the native tongue of the Burmese. To this end Judson had a commitment to being contextual in everything and learn the culture well.

The Judson’s immediately set about learning the Burmese language. Understanding Burmese was crucial for personal evangelism and Bible translation, both of which were necessary if the gospel was to gain a foothold in Burma. It was not enough to learn the language; the Judsons also had to learn how to live and minister in a Burmese context. Phyllis Rodgerson Pleasants describes the centrality of this learning for the Judsons’ mission:

“The Judsons recognised that they had to be learners before they would be able to teach anything. They were persistent in learning from the Burmese [sic], their entire lives in order to communicate the gospel authentically in ways natural to the Burmese instead of trying to make the Burmese American so they could understand the gospel. More than learning the language from their teachers, the Judsons learned what it meant to be Burmese.”

Learning the Burmese language and being immersed in Burman culture were critical components in providing a contextually appropriate Christian witness. The Judsons eventually excelled at both. (p81)

This led Judson to be a communicator in word and deed. Alongside the work of translation was the contextual approach to being a witness for Christ.

We agree in the opinion that our sole object on earth is to introduce the Religion of Jesus Christ into the empire of Burmah; and that the means by which we hope to effect this are translating, printing, and distributing the Holy Scriptures, preaching the Gospel, circulating religious tracts, and promoting the instruction of native children.

Cross-cultural communication of the gospel was the Judsons’ heartbeat.

Jusdon understood that translation work could commence more quickly in Burma that in some settings because, as Wayland surmised from Judson’s letters, “The Burmans are reading people. They have their religious books, and possess the teachings of Gaudama in their own language.’ However, Judson prioritised proclamation, “The press can never supplant the pulpit’.

Language acquisition came gradually with parallel cultural knowledge, giving them the ability to interpret nuanced Burmese meanings, and worldview complexes of belief and practice. One of Judson’s first forays in adapting his technique to the culture was to stop building a zayat, a speaking point at the end of his house where passersby would stop to inquire this foreigner and his teaching. Eventually it became a place to hold public worship. Even though he borrowed the zayat idea from Buddhist priests, he clearly distinguished his zayat from theirs. His diary described the design and function of the building and recorded that it ‘is whitewashed, to distinguish it from the other zayats around us’. (p139)

Conclusion

Much more could be said. The book is well worth a read and some days spent in reflection of it. It was an inspiring read and one that made me think about my commitment to Christ and the way in which missions is currently done.