Let This Mind Be In You: What Does It Mean to Be a Servant?

Excerpt taken from Let This Mind Be In You: Exploring God’s Call to Servanthood by James K. Dew

Chapter 5
What Does It Mean to Be a Servant?

In the last two chapters, we looked at servanthood throughout the Bible. We began with the patriarchs and prophets in the Old Testament, then considered the apostles in the New Testament. We saw that they were people of a particular kind of character. They were marked by humility, obedience, sacrifice, trust, and devotion. In chapter 4, we focused our attention on Jesus Christ as He was foretold by the prophets in the servant motif and in how the New Testament presents Christ as the fulfillment of that vision. In Him we found not just the same characteristics — humility, obedience, sacrifice, trust, and devotion — but the perfect embodiment of them.

We now look at those characteristics in greater detail. As you recall, in the introduction of this book I defined servanthood as follows:

Servanthood — the character that causes us to place others before ourselves, helping where people have need, and finding joy in a life focused on others.

What is most important about this view of servanthood is that it is rooted in a particular kind of character. Discussions about character focus on the qualities a person possesses. Put another way, discussions about character are really what we tend to think of as virtues. Servanthood is marked by the virtues of humility, obedience, sacrifice, trust, and devotion. A servant has these virtues and is willing to place others before self, help where people have need, and find joy in a life that is focused on others. In what follows below, we will take a closer look at what virtue is. We will then explore the virtues of humility, obedience, sacrifice, trust, and devotion in detail.

What Is Virtue?

When we hear the word virtue, we most likely think of the field of ethics or what it means to be a good person. Because of the way we typically conceive of ethics and morality, we might be inclined to think virtues are about keeping rules. Indeed, certain approaches to ethics and morality view virtue in this way. But this is not what virtue actually is. Rather, discussions about virtues are about the kinds of characteristics a person possesses. Virtues, then, are good characteristics of a person.

Virtues are typically considered in contrast to their negative counterpart—vices. Vices and virtues are both characteristics, but a vice is a negative characteristic that creates destruction in a person’s life. If a person has a vice, he will face trouble and difficulty because of that vice, and so will everyone around him.

For example, consider how things tend to go for someone with the vice of alcoholism. An alcoholic may struggle to hold a job, keep healthy relationships, and stay out of trouble. The vice produces difficulty for the person and for those who depend on him. When a dad loses his job because of alcohol, it is bad not just for the father; it is also debilitating for his wife and children. Or consider the vice of pride. The person with this characteristic may find himself looked over for jobs, may have difficulty in his relationships, and may not be thought well of by those around him. In short, vices are negative characteristics that create problems for those who have them and for those under their influence.

Just as a vice is a characteristic or quality, so is a virtue.

But a virtue is a positive characteristic. It creates well-being, health, and favor for the one who possesses it and for those influenced by the one who possesses it. Take, for example, the characteristic of courage. The courageous person will face difficulty instead of avoiding it, choosing to deal with problems rather than ignore them and let them fester. As a result of this willingness to be courageous and do hard things, the person with courage creates a better situation for himself and those around him.

Or consider the virtue of honesty. The honest person is willing to tell the truth as opposed to lie, even if the truth is less convenient or stressful. Because he tells the truth, he earns a reputation of being honest, winning the trust and confidence of those around him. As a result of this trust, he is given favor, creating a better situation for himself and those who depend on him. Virtues, then, are positive characteristics that produce well-being, health, or favor in some way.

The Virtues of a Christian Servant

In earlier chapters we discovered that the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and Jesus Himself were marked by a particular set of characteristics: humility, obedience, sacrifice, trust, and devotion. These characteristics are the virtues of a Christian servant. There may be other virtues worthy of our consideration as well, but these five are foundational and easy to identify in the lives of God’s servants. We will consider each one in turn in the rest of this chapter.

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