One of the counter-intuitive aspects of service is that it means authority. When the master asks his servant to do something, he has given that servant the authority to carry out the task (assuming the content of the order is within the master's own authority). For example, if my master asks me to clean his fireplace and another servant or member of the household comes in and asks me by what right or authority I am doing this, I may legitimately say, 'by my master's authority', and any objection may thus be referred to the master.
The consequence of this is that service also means protection for the servant so long as he acts within framework outlined by his master and the law. This is a very important point to remember: it means that the master is responsible for his servants and that the two parties are bound together. Furthermore, under the Mosaic Law and in the New Testament, believers are exhorted to treat their slaves/servants well, while servants are exhorted to treat their masters with respect, carrying out their duties as if they were done for Christ. (See Leviticus 25:39-46; Deuteronomy 15:12-18; Ephesians 6:5-9; Philemon.)
Thirdly, service is not to be denigrated. It is a humble station. Christ himself said, 'And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’”' (Luke 17:7-10, NKJV.) But if Christ had not taken on the nature of a servant and died on the Cross, we would all be destined for Hell. Christ has made holy and glorious the office of servant - when we truly put the will of God before our own, He values that.
To some extent this is an idealizing account that doesn't always work out this way in practice. Nor is it intended as a defense of slavery: it is right that slavery was abolished in so many parts of the world, and I hope that it is fully stamped out in the near future. Paul himself said that if it is possible for a slave to obtain his freedom, let him do so (1 Corinthians 7:21). But it is good to think about service and authority from a Biblical point of view because it affects so much of the Christian life, from caring for others to how one carries out one's job to exorcism, healing, and the other miracles of the Kingdom of Heaven. I'd like to end with this quotation from Philippians 2:4-11 (KJV):
'Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.'
God bless.
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