His master replied, “You wicked, lazy servant!” (Matt. 25:26)
Baba Kalenge asked the people who had gathered for church, “What kind of servant are you?” He then shared that there are three words in the siNdebele language for the word servant. The first word describes those who are forced to serve. For example, when the Zulus defeated the Xhosas in tribal warfare and took prisoners, these captives were required to do the “jobs” that the conquerors did not want to do for themselves. These servants had bad attitudes and usually did not do their best. Baba Kalenge stated, “Christians are not called to be forced servants.”
He then shared about “paid servants”—individuals who serve to receive money. There is no emotional attachment between the one serving and the one being served. It is just a job: Pay me, and I will work; don’t pay me, and I will not work. Then he stated, “Christians are not called to be paid servants.”
Finally he described the third word for servant. He stated, “We who profess to be Christians are called to be love servants. We are to always seek to have good attitudes and do our best, whatever the task assigned to us may be. This is because we should be so in love with Jesus Christ that our number one desire is to please him! Because we love him, we want our master, Jesus Christ, to be happy!”
Serve Jesus out of love, with all your heart, and do your best.
Jim Umf Lo is a professor at Indiana Wesleyan University, cross-cultural leader, intercessor, and author of several books published by Wesleyan Publishing House.
© 2020 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
