There's a consumer in all of us

You and I as Christians are addressed and described by God in many different ways. Some of them we wonder at, some of them we're happy for. These names include sheep, disciples, witnesses, worshippers, slaves, church, bride, salt, light, holy nation, royal priesthood, children, body members, and living stones. 

The one thing God never calls us is "consumers".

 

The one thing God frequently does call us is "servants". If we add "slave" or bondservant", we are left with little room to wiggle away from who we are in God's eyes, and what we are to do. "We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty." (Luke 17:10) 

But this shouldn't surprise us, much less disappoint us! The one description used frequently of Jesus to describe who He was and what He did was..."servant"!

Jesus "became a servant" (Romans 15:8: Philippians 2:7). He was chosen as a servant (Matthew 12:8; Isaiah 42:1-3). He lived as a servant (Matthew 20:28; John 13:4, 13-15). He suffered as a servant (Isaiah 63). He died as a servant (Acts 4:27). And He lives as a servant (Acts 4:30).

There's a consumer in all of us. But thankfully Jesus came to put that to death, so that as Christians we can stop relentlessly chasing and restlessly craving the satisfaction of our own desires. We can delight now in serving others more, even though we are unseen, unrecognized or unknown for what we do. We can begin to experience the joy of putting others first, being content even when are put last (Mark 9:35). 

"For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s." (Romans 14:7-8) We do not live for ourselves, but for Jesus! We do not die to ourselves for ourselves, but for Jesus!

As Christians we are "living sacrifices" offering ourselves completely and daily to God "which is our spiritual worship" (Romans 12:1). Our whole life is a sacrifice; our worship through serving never stops. If this sounds practically impossible, unrealistic, unsustainable, it's because we fail to cherish the beauty and power of God's mercy, to "taste and (to) see that the Lord is good!" (Psalm 34:8).

But the brutally honest, unimaginably wonderful truth is that God has had mercy on us selfish sinners in Jesus Christ, who came "not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (‭Mark‬ ‭10‬:‭45‬). Mercy now constrains and compels us towards self-giving, not self-seeking (Romans 12:9-21). 

Sacrificial living is the fruit of a life that has taken root in the mercy of God. 

Self-gratification, then, is not a fruit of mercy, but a work of darkness (Romans 13:22-14), and Jesus came to destroy such works (1 John 3:8). Once the light of His salvation begins to shine into our hearts, it begins to uncover and drive out all the sinful selfish desires that are an obstruction to the light. (‭1 John‬ ‭1‬:‭7‬)

"The greatest among you shall be your servant." (Matthew 23:11)