"A Slave of Christ Jesus?"

The word "slave" offends all that is human and spiritual in my heart. For that reason, Paul's way of introducing himself to the Roman Christians may seem a bit extreme to some folks.

"Paul a slave of Christ Jesus called to be an Apostle and set apart for the gospel of God." Romans 1:1

In a recent Wednesday night Bible class we were discussing why Paul would use the word "doulos/slave" to introduce himself. It turned out to be quite a lively discussion which concluded two obvious reasons:
1) That is how Paul saw himself in relation to Jesus
2) Most of those Christians in Rome were living slavery and Paul wanted to identify with them

I have a subjective opinion that Paul may have been the first of the Apostles to identify himself as a "slave of Christ Jesus". He uses that term in relation to himself many times in his writings, as did the other Apostolic authors of the New Testament, but I can easily see those Jewish men having the same extreme reaction to the word that I have. Maybe not, but I can easily see the other Apostles learning from Paul the absolute extreme spiritual benefit in seeing themselves in that way. Me too!

Paul's favorite word to describe Jesus and their unique relationship is "LORD/MASTER". Undoubtedly all people of faith in Jesus think of him as Lord just like Paul did but for us that word may only be a word that we have read in the Bible. For Paul it was always about relationship. When he wrote his second letter to Timothy, he called himself a "prisoner" of Jesus. He used many such terms because that was how he saw himself before his Lord.

The thought occurred to me as I was walking that Wednesday morning, DOES JESUS SEE PAUL AS PAUL SAW HIMSELF - JESUS' SLAVE? After turning that thought over in my mind several minutes I took it to the next level, DOES JESUS SEE ME AS HIS SLAVE?

In the Greco Roman culture the lowest of the low were those slaves who were slaves by choice. That describes Paul and me too. I am by choice a slave of Christ of Jesus. But does he see me in that way - a slave of the lowest caste. So I asked my class that question which sparked much animated discussion. Finally I asked them to read Jesus' own words -

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know his master's business. Instead I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father, I have made known to you." John 15:13-15

I think Jesus was urging his Apostles to see him in a very different way, a way that allowed him to be both man and God, not just a controversial Rabbi, and allowed them to draw strength from him for the trials they were about to encounter. He truly wanted them to see him as "friend". Me too! I also think Jesus wanted them to see each other as "friends" rather than adversaries competing to become the greatest among peers.

Possibly much later, Paul also wrote these words -

"Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family, so he is not ashamed to call them brothers". Hebrews 2:11

Seeing myself as a "slave of Christ Jesus" is a good, spiritually healthy context to live before him. He IS my LORD and I have willfully submitted my whole life and commitment to him as his slave. But, it sure is a great comfort to my spirit to know he loves me enough to give his life in total, willing sacrifice to give me life that truly is life. And, his Holy Spirit constantly assures my own spirit every good and bad day, that Jesus sees me as his friend and brother. He sees me as family.   HALLELUJAH!