There are two primary Greek words translated servant in the New Testament.
One is the word diakonos. It means one who executes the orders of another, an attendant, a waiter, or a minister. It is the word we get the word deacon from.
The second word translated servant is the word doulos. It means a slave, a bondsman, or a man of servile condition.
Doulos is used about 57 times in the New Testament.
John is called a slave.
Peter is called a slave.
Paul is called a slave.
James is called a slave.
Jude is called a slave.
We usually think of a slave as someone who finds out what his master wants him to do and then, in his own ability, goes out and does it.
That is not the Biblical view of a slave.
The Biblical view of a slave is found in Jeremiah 18:1-6.
God is the potter and we are the clay. The potter shapes the clay into whatever shape that he wants the clay. Then he uses the vessel that he has formed in anyway he wants to use it.
For us to be that kind of slave there are two things that are essential for us to do.
First, we have to be moldable.
God wants to change or transform.
That is what a potter does with the clay. He changes it from a lump of clay into a useable and valuable vessel. The clay is able to be molded or changed because it remains moldable.
We have to remain moldable in God’s hands so He can change us into useable and valuable vessels.
God wants to change several things in our lives.
1 Corinthians 7:9
Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your ways.
God wants to change our ways.
Romans 2:29
No, a true Jew is one whose heart it right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law, rather, it is a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. And a person with changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.
God wants to change our hearts.
Romans 12:2
Don’t copy the behavior of the world and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
God wants to change our thinking or our minds so He can change us into new people.
In 2 Corinthians 5:17 Paul says that if we have surrendered our lives to Jesus we have become new people. All the old has passed away, the new has come.
Some of the new comes immediately.
Some comes over time as the potter, Jesus, molds us.
The new that comes, the new person that God is changing us into, is in the image of Jesus.
Romans 8:29
For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conform to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.
God wants to begin the process of changing us to be like Jesus.
1 Corinthians 15:49
Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man.
The goal of salvation is not just heaven, but more importantly to become like Jesus.
We have to be moldable so that God can mold us into the image of Jesus.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is allowing God to make us like Jesus.
Second, we have to remain in the potter’s hand.
If the potter is going to mold the clay, it has to be in and remain in the potter’s hands.
If God is going to mold us we have to be in and remain in God’s hands.
In Matthew 8:3 Jesus touches a man with leprosy and he is healed.
In Matthew 8:15 Jesus touches Peter’s mother-in-law and her fever leaves her.
In Matthew 9:25 Jesus touches Jairus’ daughter and she comes back to life.
In Matthew 9:29 Jesus touches the eyes of two blind men and they regain their sight.
When we allow God to touch us and hold us in His hands, He heals and restores us.
In John 15:5 we are told that if we are connected to Jesus we will produce fruit, but separated from Jesus we can do nothing of kingdom value.
The key to being a useable servant of our Master, Jesus, is to remain in His hands.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is staying connected with Jesus by remaining in His hands.
God wants us to be moldable and remain in His hands so we can be His servants, His slaves. If we are to be good and faithful servants we have to know God and His ways. If we are to really know God’s ways, we have to be moldable and remain in His hands.
We don’t know God or His ways naturally.
In Psalm 95:10 it says that Israel, His people, didn’t know His ways.
In Isaiah 55:8-9 God says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
God’s thoughts and ways are different and higher than our thoughts and ways. For us to know God’s thoughts and ways, we have to let God mold us and for God to mold us we have to stay in His hands.
No servant can please his master unless he knows him and knows what he is doing.
Just as the purpose of the clay is determined by the potter, so our purpose is determined by Jesus.
Jesus says in Matthew 23:11 that the greatest among you shall be your servant.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about being Jesus’ servant, His doulos.
As Jesus’ Doulos Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls
Joe
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