Five General Characteristics Of The Servant

Feature 3 – October 2022 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Five General Characteristics Of The Servant

The Gospel According To Mark portrays the Lord Jesus as the Perfect Servant. In this relatively small book we read a lot about the ministry of the Lord, who is our Example to follow. We will discuss below five characteristics any follower of Christ should strive to have to ensure a successful ministry.

1. No Credentials Needed
Mark’s gospel is small, but it records almost the same number of miracles as other gospels. Of the 35 miracles in the Gospels, Mark tells of 18, Matthew presents 20 miracles, Luke has 20, and John gives only 8. These amounts indicate Mark provides good coverage of the ministry of the Perfect Servant.

One might ask, “What are the credentials of a successful servant?” Matthew gives the story of Jesus the King and provides credentials in His genealogy that connects the Lord to King David, establishing His rights as the King. Luke gives the story of Jesus as the Son of Man, listing the genealogy that connects Him to Adam, establishing His complete humanity. John’s gospel, which introduces to us the story of the Son of God, starts the narrative with “the beginning” when “the Word [Jesus] was with God” (Jn. 1:1 ESV). However, the gospel of Mark starts right away with the Lord’s ministry, without listing His genealogy, the story of His birth, or the prophecies about Him. This is very encouraging to all of us because it shows the power of the ministry is not in our credentials or background but in God, who works in us through the Spirit (consider Mk. 1:12).

Paul confirmed this fact in his letter to the Corinthian church, which had many spiritual gifts. He wrote: “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are” (1 Cor. 1:26-28).

When it comes to serving the Lord, only God has the ability to choose “the foolish” and use them in a mighty way. He chose different vessels, or individuals, to write the New Testament. Some were fishermen, such as John and Peter; some were philosophers, as was Paul. Even in Old Testament days God chose the weak. Gideon, for example, who considered himself as nobody, was made a leader and gained the victory with a “weak” army (Jud. 6-7).

Even if you think of yourself as “low” and “despised,” the Lord has a role for you. In the genealogy of the Lord in Matthew 1 we read about 4 women who were great-grandmothers of the Lord Jesus: Tamar (committed adultery), Ruth (a Gentile), Bethsheba (committed adultery), and Rahab (a harlot). The men definitely had their issues, too. Why would God choose the foolish, weak, low and despised? It is that “no human might boast in the presence of God” (1 Cor. 1:29). The glory should all go to the Lord of the ministry, not the servant.

2. Time Is Critical
The expression “immediately” is repeated 42 times in Mark – only 80 times in the entire New Testament. The Perfect Servant is always busy and doesn’t waste any time. We are encouraged to “look carefully then how [we] walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:15-16). Time is one of the most valuable gifts we get from the Lord. We all have it; no one can save it; and we all have the power to choose how to spend it.

The Devil promotes many ways to waste our time. Remember that time not well invested is wasted. If you want to be a good servant of Christ you need to walk in wisdom, making the best use of the time (see Col. 4:5). The Lord’s ministry was driven by the directions from the Father to ensure His time was well spent. It was not driven by compassion, emotions or even His personal needs.

3. Service Is Associated With Sacrifices
Mark is the only gospel mentioning Jesus was so busy that He did not have time to eat (3:20, 6:31). This is a true reflection of the nature of all ministries; they are usually associated with some type of sacrifice. How different was the early experience of Mark, for he didn’t like the suffering that came with service (Acts 13:13, called “John”). In contrast, Paul was a good example of a servant who faced many sufferings in his service (2 Cor. 11:23-29). As you get into any ministry, expect some sufferings and be ready to sacrifice time, money and rest, while experiencing emotional and physical pain.

4. Attract People To God, Not Ourselves
We see in the gospel of Mark that Christ was clearly not seeking to attract attention to Himself. He asked people five times not to mention miracles He had done (1:44, 3:12, 5:43, 7:36, 8:26). This is very challenging for most of us because we seek acknowledgment and confirmation from others. Unfortunately, some may go to the extreme of even promoting themselves in their ministry by telling stories that glorify them, or preaching their own agendas and opinions instead of the true gospel of Christ. We have to realize that we don’t have the power to help people. Our goal should be bringing people to meet the Savior who can help them. It is easy to do that once we realize this is the Lord’s business, not ours.

5. Focus On Spiritual Salvation
Mark records seven miracles of the Lord’s casting out demons, implying the dwelling of demons in people is the worst misery to humans (1:23-27,34,39, 3:11, 5:1-20, 7:24-30, 9:14-29). Humanity suffers from diseases, hunger, poverty, corruptions and many other issues. All these are symptoms, or results, of the main problem, which is the sin in our hearts.

Jesus, as the Perfect Servant, dealt with the root cause of the problem: sin. This should be an important lesson to all of us. Charity efforts and community work are good methods to reach out to people, but they should not be the goal in themselves. We are encouraged to help people in different ways to show them practical love, but our goal should be their spiritual salvation.

Challenge Yourself
As you think of the Lord Jesus as the Perfect Servant, challenge yourself to imitate Him in the perfect path He walked on earth. Remember that God is not looking for greatly skilled individuals, but He is looking for available individuals who pass the real test of love (Jn. 21). Review how you spent your time last week and challenge yourself in the next week to ensure you spend your time wisely. Did you face any challenges or sacrifices in your ministry recently? If not, what type of sacrifice are you willing to endure in the future? Set your goal to bring glory to God, with the focus on people’s salvation.

By Shereen Ghobrial