Colossians 3:24 Different Classes of Service

One day, a few years ago, this little sentence embedded in Paul's letter to the Colossians struck me: "It is the Lord Christ you are serving." (3:24b). Growing up in church as a kid, there always seemed to be a hierarchy of "service" to God. Upper class service was the work done by missionaries (always at the top of the heap), followed by pastors and then other full-time ministry workers and maybe full-time moms. Middle class service involved volunteering at church or in some para-church organization, and if you worked really hard you might be approaching upper class. Lower class service involved what people did in their jobs, which basically helped to make money to support the church and to give us an opportunity to evangelize our co-workers. Pastors never talked about kids growing up to be truck drivers, computer programmers or clinical biologists for God. No, if you were the good kids, you went for the pastorate or the foreign missionary life.

But this sentence, "It is the Lord Christ you are serving." gave me new perspective, because it comes right at the tail end of Paul's instructions to slaves:

Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. - Colossians 3:22-24

Slaves had no choice in their lowly tasks. Slaves had no choice in their lowly position. They couldn't choose to become a missionary or a pastor (see Onesimus in the book of Philemon). But they had a choice of boss: Jesus. With that choice, they gained the dignity of a calling as high and as spiritual as any pastor or missionary, because they are obedient. With Jesus as boss, he could reassign them at any time to those roles, or he ask them to remain in their current role. The notion of calling is not reserved for full-time ministry positions (cf. 1 Corinthians 7) but rather to being exactly where God placed you. And being invested where God placed you is the essence of godly living.

Paul told believers what their ambition should be:

...make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. (1 Thess. 4:11-12)

Don't worry, there is a balance here. I have every respect for those who are called into full-time ministry and I have seen first hand the necessity of God's hand in those professions. But I refuse to feel guilty or lower class because my gracious calling from Jesus is to write code and design firmware. Sermons and C++ code are both the product of grace and, as such, are from God (James 1:17).

There is more here, and a number of believers seem to be rediscovering the dignity of the other 24/6 portion of our lives before God. I'll share more later.

The Journey From Useless To Useful (Philemon 1:10-11)

A recent news article from India described a ceremony where 285 girls legally changed their name. Wearing their best outfits with barrettes, braids and bows in their hair, they each received a certificate with their new name, a name they themselves had chosen. Some chose the name "Vaishali" (which means prosperous, beautiful and good'). Others chose the name 'Aishwarya' after a famous Bollywood star. Another chose 'Ashmita' meaning 'tough' or 'rock hard'.

 The cermony was the idea of Dr. Bhagwan Pawar, a district health officer in the Indian state of Maharashtra state where girl children are considered a disappointment. The problem is so prevalent that, in Maharashtra, there are only 883 girls for every 1,000 boys, due to abortions of female fetuses. Hospitals are prohibited by law from revealing the gender of an unborn fetus. Others, once born, die of neglect. And still others, such as the 285 at this ceremony, are given the name 'Nakusa' or 'Nakushi' which means 'unwanted' in Hindi, indicating their family's feeling that they are worthless or a burden.[1]

I cannot imagine growing up with a name like that--to feel that each time someone calls out to you that they are crying, 'Useless! Useless!' It happened in the Bible also: the youngest of Jacob's sons, Benjamin, was named by his mother Ben-oni (meaning "son of my trouble", Gen. 35:18).

How do you live up to your name, if your name is useless? Or, you could be like a young man, raised as a slave, who had trouble living up to his name, which meant 'Useful'. 'Useful, come here' 'Useful, fetch water' Useful this and Useful that. But he wasn't useful. He was unreliable and bitter against his owner. So he ran away to lose himself in the massive city of Rome.

It was during this time that he met Paul, an old man and a prisoner awaiting trial. Through spending time with Paul and helping him, his life was changed, he became a follower of Jesus, and he became  close to Paul. Paul called him his 'very 'heart' (Philemon, vs. 12) and his 'son' (vs. 10). But there was one debt--one relationship--that was unrestored. It was the relationship between him and his master.

So Paul wrote these words to Philemon, his master, saying: 

I appeal to you for my son Onesimus ['useful'], who became my son while I was in chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me. - Philemon 1:10b-11

Before he became a follower of Jesus, this slave had no purpose. But now, by the favor of God, he had found his life's calling right back where he had started. His job and situation hadn't changed, but he had changed-placed back in the household of Philemon to serve not just his master, but his brother.

Sometimes I wonder whether my life is going anywhere except in circles. It feels useless, but God has the ability to tranform the mundane and the grinding into something beautiful, because he has changed my attitude towards it. I am on the journey from useless to useful, according to his purpose.

No matter what other people think of you, or the names they give you, or how they describe you, Jesus has rewritten the meaning of your life:

To the one who is victorious ... I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it. - Revelation 2:17

Live up to the person--the new name--that you have in Jesus.

[1] "285 Indian girls shed 'unwanted' names" Chaya Babu, Associated Press, 22 October 2011