My Dear Shepherds,

I wasn’t always at my best in board meetings. One of those leadership tests ranked me low on collaboration. But to be fair, others weren’t always so great either. I remember coming home from meetings where my patience and pride had been sorely tested and thinking, Why do I always have to be the good example around here? Here’s why:

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. (Phil. 2:3-4)

That, of course, is for all believers but it weighs especially heavily upon pastors who are entrusted with saying, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” Being Christlike examples is surely the hardest part of pastoring. It’s not just a matter of trying harder:

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage … (vv. 5-6)

The Son of God discerned what so often escapes us—that for the sake of love, we can give up our rights and privileges without losing our identity. We don’t become less; we become better.

God has blessed us all with personality strengths and talents, upon which he lavished spiritual gifts, all overlaid with our high calling as shepherds of his flock. There’s a lot of power and privilege in those things but they’re only valuable if we don’t use them for our own advantage.

… rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. (v. 7)

Christ laid aside his use of every divine privilege, then filled himself with the “the very nature [essence] of a servant.” God has always bent down to serve his people, but it wouldn’t be accurate to say he’d had the nature of a servant. Quite the contrary. He’d had the nature of the Almighty King of the universe. God knelt before no one, nor did anyone give him orders.

We rightly marvel to think of the Son of God “being made in human likeness,” but “taking the very nature of a servant” was even more humbling than that, for no human being has ever possessed the very nature of a servant! Our sin-wrapped pride prevented it. When Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, he wasn’t only giving them a discipleship lesson, he was revealing the glory of his true servant nature as surely as when he was transfigured.

Now, seated at the right hand of God, Christ has not laid aside his servant nature any more than his resurrected humanity. In his story of “servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet,” Jesus gave us an astonishing glimpse of his future ministry:

“It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.” (Luke 12:37)

Serving is our Christlike calling, but it doesn’t come to us naturally. We do become weary in well-doing. We bridle at being treated like servants. We struggle with boundaries. But the Holy Spirit breathes Christ’s own servant nature into our lives along with the discernment and love to serve wisely. Take a deep breath.

Perhaps we need to retire to our spiritual vestry to re-wrap our specially-fitted servant’s towel around our waists, the one with the little shepherd’s staff logo embroidered on the corner.

Be ye glad!

Lee Eclov recently retired after 40 years of local pastoral ministry and now focuses on ministry among pastors. He writes a weekly devotional for preachers on Preaching Today.