[1] Bobby, Tyler and I are in Texas this weekend. Yesterday we (and Bobby’s brothers) flew out to surprise His parents for a special “installation” service [2] their church had for his dad. Tyler was amazing on the airplane! I wasn’t sure how he would do with the almost 4 hours it is to fly here, so I packed my bag full of goodies for him. We doodled and had snacks and watched Monster’s Inc. I was dreading flying here because I thought it would be a meltdown marathon, but it turned out to be a fun time!

Last night we had the opportunity to hear John MacArthur preach for the “installation” service for Bobby’s parents. He asked, “What is the fundamental truth of Christianity?” The answer–Jesus is Lord. He showed us how if Jesus is Lord, then Christians are His slaves. But the Christian community doesn’t like this image. We would rather call ourselves “servants.” But a servant is one who is hired to work for wages. After working he goes his own way and does what he wants. A slave on the other hand is bought, no longer owns his own life and does only his master’s will.

The Christian community by and large does not like this image. Even the Bible translators will not render the Greek word “doulos” correctly. The only way this word can be translated is “slave” but because of the stigma about this word translators render is “servant” or “bond-servant.” They only render it “slave” if it is talking about an actual slave or an inanimate object. MacArthur showed that our loss of this word has contributed to wrong thinking around the world and throughout history.

Instead of calling people to hand themselves over to Christ as Lord, the popular evangelistic message is about how beneficial it would be for you to start a personal relationship with Jesus. Jesus as Lord means that He is absolute authority and what He says goes. We need to readjust our thinking if it hasn’t been right on this. Jesus is Lord. I am a Christian and that means I am His slave. He bought me and owns me. I can no longer have a personal agenda like I did when I was a slave to sin. My will must be completely subject to His at all times for the rest of my life.

“Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Would he not rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’ “

Luke 17:7-10

In this passage the “servant” here is actually “doulos.” Sometimes I will obey God’s Word and then think I should receive some extra blessing for it. But this isn’t right, I’ve only done what my Master requires of me. Keeping this perspective will make all the difference in us living 24/7 all out for Christ.