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Called to Serve

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Jun 2, 1904

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 81, No. 22.

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Called to Serve

By Harry Armstrong

HARRY ARMSTRONG
THE call of God is, as it has always been, the call to service. There is no room or place for officialism in the church of Christ. Every living member of his body—the church—is called not to officiate, but to serve. Going back to the days of the calling of the disciples, we read, “And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.”
As these humble fishermen left their nets to be trained by their Great Teacher into an efficiency that would make them successful fishers of men, there is revealed in their aspirations a lack of understanding regarding the real purpose for which they were called. With an imperfect faith they looked for Jesus to establish a worldly kingdom, with its attendant seats of honor, power, and glory. Day after day they expected that Jesus would manifest his power, delivering them from the Roman yoke of oppression. Their highest hopes could not reach beyond the thought of a temporal kingdom with temporal power. And as the disciples met together in the school of Christ, too often their minds would be diverted from the lesson of the day by the thought of self-exaltation.
“And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire. And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you? They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.”
“Grant unto us that we may sit,” said two of the members of the little church of Christ. “Ye know not what ye ask,” said Christ. Sitting denotes lordship, authority, dominion,—the place to be occupied only by those who have authority to pass judgment. We read in Dan. 7:9, “I beheld till the thrones were cast down [placed], and the Ancient of days did sit, . . . thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.” In this brief, but graphic description of the judgment scene, we notice that the King of kings, even the Judge of all the earth, sits, while an innumerable company of ministering angels stand before him to serve. The king sits, while the subjects stand. And again: when Daniel and his captive companions were carried into Babylon to serve the king of Babylon, the record says that King Nebuchadnezzar “appointed them a daily provision of the king’s meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. . . . Now at the end of the days . . . the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king.”
Jesus had called the disciples from their work that they might labor with him. He did not come to judge or condemn, but to save. He says, “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.” And in seeking for co-laborers Jesus had no seats of worldly honor for self-exaltation to offer, no positions of rulership for the execution of judgment; for he said, “To sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.”
When the other members of the church, the ten, heard that James and John had aspired to sit in the highest seats on the throne of his glory, and had even tried to secure them first, “they began to be much displeased with James and John. But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: and whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.”
The princes of the Gentiles (heathen) exercise lordship and dominion, “but so shall it not be among you.” The members of the church of Christ are not to sit in judgment one upon another, criticizing and condemning. They have a more noble and unselfish ministry, being called by love to serve one another. And when any member climbs up into the judgment seat to judge another, in passing judgment he condemns himself. “Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself.” But, says one, quoting from 1 Cor. 6:2, “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?”—Yes: we are even told that the saints shall judge angels, but not yet. “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come.”
“Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” That is to say, after the disciples have served according to the will of God, standing daily before him, they shall sit and reign with Christ upon his throne. “It shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.”
After Daniel had served in Babylon, he was promoted by the king, and “Daniel sat in the gate of the king.” And even to-day, all who will stand to give faithful service, dedicating all the powers of their being to God, which is but their reasonable service, shall be made kings and priests, sitting at the right hand of God. “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”