THE MEANINGS OF THE WORD “SERVANT” IN THE BIBLE
“If a ruler hearkeneth to lies, all his servants are
wicked” (Prov. 29:12). Does this mean that if our workplace owner or boss is
evil, we’re supposed to quit? No. In the Bible, there are different meanings of
the word “serve” or “servant,” and it’s important to know the difference. In
Proverbs 29:12, the word for “servants” means that the person worships the
ruler, desiring to carry out his every wish, ministering to his way of
thinking. It’s different from the usage of the word “servants” in 1 Peter 2:18:
“Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear [respect]; not only to the
good and gentle, but also to the froward.”
The word “froward” means crooked, perverse, and wicked.
If the Lord were asking us to worship and yield entirely to this kind of
person, it would be a contradiction of His Word. But instead, the word
translated “servants” in this verse means “fellow resident or household
servant.” It’s like you work in the same household, the same business. When it
says that these kinds of servants are “subject” to their masters, the word
“subject” means an attitude of cooperating, assuming responsibility, and
carrying a burden, in a military sense or business sense or household servant
sense. It is not at all in the sense of worshipping or ministering to his or
her ideologies. Only God Almighty through His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy
Spirit is worthy of that kind of service.
We need always to be aware of where we stand as far as
our servitude. Job 36:11 tells us: “If they obey and serve him [God], they
shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.” That’s
where we want to be.
On the other hand, Psalm 106:36 tells us: “And they
served their idols: which were a snare unto them.”
We are sometimes challenged in our employment situations
to make value judgments in serving. If our employers ask us to do or say things
that are contrary to the Word of God, we have to stand up for God.
When I was an executive assistant, I was responsible for
typing and signing letters for my boss. In one of his letters, he dictated a
bold-faced lie. Morally, I couldn’t sign it for him. I knew I could be fired
for calling him out on it, but I had to choose that day, if I was going to put
God first or my job. I chose God and went into my boss's office and told him if
he wanted the letter sent, he would have to sign it himself, because I just
couldn’t do it. (Believe me, I said it in the nicest way possible). Well, I
didn’t lose my job, because I was a valuable asset to the company. I did
forgive him, because like Jesus prayed to the Father when nailed to the cross,
"Forgive them because they know not what they do." But he did hold a
palpable grudge against me for a long time.
I’m sure many of you have faced this moral challenge. The
way I did it was to remind myself that I am only a subcontractor on loan from
the Lord. I worship and minister to and for God alone. And in the workplace
environment, I strove for excellence, contributing to the work of the
household, but in my case, not necessarily to the philosophy of the people in
charge. I know where my loyalty lies.
Every so often, it’s good to check the quality of our
service in our secular environment as well as our spiritual one. Both are
important to God, but our spiritual priorities always come first.
“Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the
reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ” (Col. 3:24).
Love, Carolyn
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