Love Like A... Slave?

Unlock the radical call to "love like a slave" in a world focused on personal gain. This podcast explores the shocking passage in Philippians 2, where the Apostle Paul describes how Jesus was motivated by an all-encompassing, non-coercive love for God and others. 

Join Larry in examining the challenge this servant mindset poses to modern goals of comfort, contrasting the attitudes of a finance professional seeking maximum income (Zeke) with a co-worker (Mindy) who volunteers her time and bonus to a refugee clinic. 

Listeners will discover how they can adopt this self-giving, others-empowering love in their own lives, revealing that when love is in action, God is present. It's time to embrace the revolution of the servant heart.

Transcript

Doing a service project that helps someone feels good, doesn’t it? I spent a day on a Habitat for Humanity project, wielding a paint brush and helping with other tasks. I enjoyed the work and the camaraderie working alongside the future homeowner. My kids have done the same on mission trips across the country. The work is basically becoming a servant doing manual labor for a few hours under the direction of the supervisors.

                Let’s explore a shocking passage from the Bible that challenges our modern goal of getting the most we can to live a comfortable life. 

                The shocking Bible verses comes when the Apostle Paul describes the actions of Jesus in the Servant Hymn of Philippians 2. 

“Christ Jesus, who, though he existed in the form of God,
     did not regard equality with God
     as something to be grasped,
 but emptied himself,
     taking the form of a slave,
     assuming human likeness.
 And being found in appearance as a human,

 he humbled himself
     and became obedient to the point of death—
     even death on a cross.”

I know first century slavery is a far cry from a few hours volunteering some easy labor then choosing to head home for a warm shower. Yet we can gain a tiny perspective on the way Jesus lived and the challenge for our lives today.

                The analogy of slavery emerged from the teachings of Israel’s greatest prophet, Isaiah. In four great poems of that book, a great leader is described as a servant. Jesus himself echoes the same truth for his own ministry. The earliest gospel, Mark, offers a core teaching that, just like Jesus, the attitude of a disciple must be that of a servant. The Gospel reads, “Even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many.”[1] Some years later the Book of Acts places explicit servant language in Peter’s preaching about Jesus on Pentecost.

                Modern believers, me included, cannot imagine the brutality and hopelessness of ancient slavery. This passage is shocking because millions suffered as slaves in the Roman world, working on the most dangerous jobs in brutal conditions with no hope of change. To be a servant meant to have no real identity, agency, or status in the community.

                Paul describes this surrender of self-identity with the word, kenosis, translated as “emptied himself.” Jesus voluntarily surrendered his time, energy, and purpose for the good of others. His master was his Father God and his obedience so profound he experienced an unparalleled unity with the Divine.  

                  What could motivate Jesus to embrace this identity?

                An all-encompassing love of God and others is the only answer. Thomas J. Oord writes, “He obeyed the call of love… in humility and servanthood… and this obedience led to his crucifixion.”[2] This obedience expresses the essential attribute of God. Love is the core of who God is revealed to be, from Genesis to Revelation. God acts in every moment with every creature in non-coercive love that offers the opportunity to choose the best for the given experience.

                As Oord says, “The self-giving, others-empowering love of God revealed in Jesus Christ is logically primary in God's eternal essence. In God, love comes first… God relentlessly expresses love in the quest to promote overall well-being.”[3]

                Zeke built his career in finance on making the deals that brought him the most gain. Sometimes he put it in terms of providing for his family but mostly the pleasure came from winning the negotiations and counting the income that rolled in. But his conversation with his co-worker Mindy bothered him.

                “What will you do with your bonus?” he asked her.

                “I’m working on a special project,” she replied.

                “A new addition at home?”

                “No, I’ve committed to supporting a refugee camp medical clinic.”

                “What? With your bonus?”

                Mindy had a smile. “Yeah, and I get to spend a week volunteering at the camp in Kenya.”

                Zeke didn’t know how to handle giving up so much for something like that.

                This was the very challenge that the Apostle gave to believers so long ago. “In your relationships have the same mindset as Christ Jesus… in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”[4] 

                Taking a deeper look, we are confronted with the identity of the “others” that are important with love. Zeke could claim he was acting for the interests of his family in accumulating wealth, while Mindy settled her focus on the suffering of people in a distant land. Who was acting with greater love? That’s not determined by the object of love but the motivations that move us beyond our self-serving actions. It seems like Mindy is the example, doesn’t it?

                How should you empty yourself in following the mindset of Jesus? Some can give, some can go, and some can listen quietly to a heart-broken person. Others can sit on the floor with preschoolers, while others must march in a protest against oppressive violations of civil rights. A professional may offer pro-bono hours or a tradesman spend the afternoon at the house of an elderly neighbor. Love does many different things that change lives in small ways.

                Each action of love shares a common thread with all the others, though. Those who take action find Jesus already there. It is the presence of the Spirit of Jesus which lures us away from self to actions of love. Mindy will find Jesus in the camp. A youth may find Jesus on a roof replacing shingles in a low-income community. Where love is in action, God is present to fill the moment with eternal meaning and real-time joy.

                We have the opportunity to demonstrate in our self-centered world the revolution of the servant heart. It’s time to love like a slave.

[1] Mark 10:45
[2] Thomas Jay Oord, Pluriform Love. SacraSage Press, 2022. P. 157
[3] Oord, The Uncontrolling Love of God. Intervarsity Press, 2015. P. 160
[4] Philippians 2:4-5