The Alternative

Tony Evans: God says that the way you express your identity in Christ is in your service.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans says a lot of what God gives us isn't given for us to keep.

Tony Evans: Yes, God wants to do for you. Yes, He wants to bless you, but He also wants to be a blessing through you.

Guest (Male): This is the Alternative Broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. For a Christian, being set free means a lot more than just being turned loose. God wants us to put our freedom to good use. Let's join Dr. Evans as he explains how we can do that.

Tony Evans: Today we live in the day of the cul-de-sac Christian. A cul-de-sac you can go to, you just can't go through. They want to be blessed, but they do not necessarily want to be vehicles of blessing.

Rather than being conduits for the goodness of God, they are cul-de-sacs wanting to house it for themselves. They have lost the sense of why you were saved. God saved you, if indeed you are a Christian here today, God saved you so that you could have eternal life, but He left you here so that you could serve His agenda.

He left you here for service. The reason He didn't take you to heaven the moment you were converted is because there was a service you were to perform. Galatians chapter 5 verse 13 says, "For you were called to freedom, brethren, only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word in the statement: you shall love your neighbor as yourself."

God says that the way you express your identity in Christ is in your service. Servanthood is that attitude mixed with that action where we seek the well-being and the betterment of others for the glory of God. It is where we seek the well-being and betterment of others for the glory of God.

I don't care what your status is in the marketplace. I don't care what your status is on your job. I don't care what your status is in your company. I don't care how recognized you are in your neighborhood.

At the cross, on your best day, you are a sinner saved by grace. If you don't know that that's who you are, you have never been saved because Jesus Christ only saves sinners. Unless you remember that if it were not for the grace of God serving you, you would not even be here today, then you will also forget it's by that same grace He's called you to be a servant to others.

You may have been blessed, and God blessed you for being blessed, but He didn't just bless you for you. He blessed you so that He could bless others through you. In Mark chapter 10, Jesus is dealing with His disciples whom He had to develop this attitude with. After all, they are hanging with Jesus.

They were living large. They were seeing things that the ordinary person couldn't see every day. They were hanging with Jesus. They began a discussion about who's going to be the greatest in the kingdom. Who is going to sit on His right hand and who is going to sit on His left hand?

They got into this contest, this argument about who's going to be the greatest in the kingdom. In fact, it got so intense, verse 41: "Hearing this, the ten began to feel indignant with James and John." When the ten heard James and John arguing about who was going to be chief man in charge in the kingdom, they got ticked off too.

Now you have the whole bunch of disciples upset over a battle about who's going to be top dog in the kingdom, who's going to be number one. That's when Jesus steps in, verse 42. Calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, "You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them."

"But it is not this way among you. For whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many."

A lot of people read this passage and misunderstand it, as though Jesus was saying you shouldn't want to become great. That's not what Jesus says. Jesus's words are, "If you wish to become great." Jesus is inviting you to become great.

Jesus is inviting every child of God to look for greatness, to not be satisfied to be one of the crowd, to not be satisfied to just be a mediocre expression of redeemed humanity, to not be satisfied simply to get by. He says, "If you want to be great."

Guess what? I am now, based on the word of God, giving everybody in this building permission to pursue greatness. That's because Jesus says if greatness is what you want, boys, go get it. If you want to be great, it's alright.

What He goes on to say is, if you want to be great, don't try to get there like the Gentiles do. In other words, don't use the standards of the unrighteous to pursue the goal of greatness. Pursue the goal, but don't pursue it in the Gentile kind of way.

In the Gentile way, referring to the unrighteous, the unsaved, greatness is pursued based on monetary status. Greatness is pursued based on the position that you rise to. Greatness is pursued based on prestige that you are able to accumulate.

Greatness is pursued by the possessions that you own. You will look at people who have high incomes, high jobs, high notoriety, and you say they are great. Jesus says, if you want to be great, and I encourage greatness, if you want to be great, you must descend the ladder to greatness.

He says in the kingdom, if you want to be great, come down. Among the Gentiles, if you want to be great, go up. You can be great, but you can't be great with God and use the Gentile method of getting there.

Many of us are pursuing the ungodly standard to arrive at an unrighteous celebrity goal, making God our resister, not our blesser. When you use celebrity to get great, you are infringing on something that God rejects because God says the way I make people great is I look at their service record.

I don't turn and flip the magazines to see what the Gentiles are saying about them. I don't look and see what CNN is saying about them. I don't look at Fox News to see what they're saying about them, because all that is is Gentiles talking to Gentiles.

When I want to decide who's great, I look at their service record. I look at what kind of servants they are. In fact, He goes on in the passage to say the greater you want to become, the more expansive your service should be.

He says the greatest among you shall be servants of all. You can decide how great you want to be. You can be a little great because you do a little service. You can do mediocre great because you do mediocre service. Or you can be great-great-great because you have great-great-great service.

You know how great folk think? They think, since I want to be real great in God's economy, I'm going to find every and any opportunity that God gives me to serve somebody else in His name, because I know that baby is going to be recorded.

In fact, when you and I stand before the judgment seat of Christ to be rewarded for our works, there's nothing in the Bible that tells me God's going to ask how many Sundays did you miss? He's not going to want to know how many times did you attend, how many Wednesday night services did you go to.

He's not going to ask how many verses a day did you read, but the Bible does tell me that at that time He's going to check your service record. He's going to want to know how many glasses of cold water did you give in His name.

How many people did you serve who could not do anything back for you? Listen to me. When you do something because somebody's going to do something back, remember, that's business. Nothing wrong with business, but that's business.

Servanthood is I do it for you because I want God's name to be glorified in my serving you with no strings attached. Service is service. Business is business. There's a place for business, but God has called us to servanthood because He's called us to greatness.

He's called us to greatness. The question is, do you want to be great or do you just want the Gentiles to clap for you? Because I hope you know, the Gentiles who clap for you, they'll quit clapping, too.

Some of you have experienced that. You had friends when you had something. When the collapse hit and you had nothing, they changed their phone numbers. You can't find them now.

The Gentiles will applaud you, but the Gentiles will leave you. But I know somebody who if you serve His interest, His cause in the serving of His family. That's why God calls all Christians to be part of a local church, to let you know you're not an only child.

It's not my Father who is in heaven, it's our Father who art in heaven. This is not an only child situation. He wants every believer to be in a context of service, a context of service. He says for the Son of Man, He closed that verse with the Son of Man did not come to be served, He came to serve.

Guest (Male): Dr. Evans will tell us how the model Jesus gave us works in our lives when he continues our message in just a moment. First, though, I want to let you know that today is the final day to take advantage of a valuable parenting resource package we've put together that serves as a follow-up to Tony's current study about parenting on purpose.

It features all 13 full-length messages from the series, where he shares practical biblical strategies for helping children develop character, conviction, and a faith that lasts beyond childhood. And because parenting doesn't come with an instruction manual, we're also including Tony's trusted book, Raising Kingdom Kids.

This popular resource has encouraged countless families by showing parents how to create a kingdom-minded atmosphere where children can thrive spiritually. We'd love to send you both resources as our thank-you gift when you make a donation to support the alternative.

Just visit tonyevans.org or call 1-800-800-3222 to make your request. That's 1-800-800-3222. I'll repeat that contact information for you after part two of today's lesson and this.

Guest (Female): "It was my first time meeting Jesus in the Bible." That's what one student is saying after studying bibliology through the Tony Evans Training Center.

Taught by renowned theologian Dr. Tony Evans, these online courses feature compelling and exclusive video and audio teaching plus an interactive scripture-based curriculum you can access online or through the mobile app. Sign up now at tonyevanstraining.org. Take a course with Dr. Evans and explore the kingdom anytime, anywhere. Tonyevanstraining.org.

Tony Evans: Look at Philippians chapter 2 verse 3. "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves." Okay.

Do not, verse 4, merely look out for your own personal interest. He didn't say skip you, He just said it can't just be only about you. Do not look out for your own personal interest, but also the interests of others.

Why are you telling me this, Paul? Verse 5: "Have this attitude in you, which was in Christ Jesus." I want you to think like Christ. Well, how did He think?

Who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself. The Greek word emptied means kenosis. He kenoseed Himself, emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond servant and being made in the likeness of men.

Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Now watch this, because this is thick. Jesus existed in the form of God, but He did not regard being in that form something to be grasped or held onto tightly.

You grab something, something to be held onto tightly. Wait a minute now. He didn't deny He was in the form of God. He just didn't hold onto it so tight that He couldn't serve somebody else.

What He did was, watch this, emptied Himself. Jesus never stopped being God, but what He did was He poured deity into humanity. He poured deity into humanity. He emptied who He was, God, into humanity. He became a man.

But not only did He become a man, the verse says He became a bond servant. In other words, even though He was as high as you could go, He went as low as you could become. Why? So that He could service all of humanity no matter what level they were on.

How low did He become? That He was willing to die. But was He just willing to die? No, He says He was obedient unto death, but even the worst kind of death. Here is the celebrity of the universe who existed in the form of God.

But when we needed a savior, when we needed somebody who would pay for our sins, when we needed somebody to take our place, when we needed somebody to go to hell for us so we would not have to go to hell for ourselves, Jesus wasn't so much God that He held so tightly onto being God that He said to Himself, since I'm God, I don't have to do that. Since I'm God, I don't have to go down there. Since I'm God, I don't have to fool with them sinners because after all, I'm God.

Without stopping to be God, here's what He did: He relinquished His prerogatives as God. He didn't stop being God, but He gave up His prerogatives. In other words, while I have the right to stay up here, I'm not going to stay up here.

While I have the right not to go down and help them because they deserve death, I'm not going to carry forth that right. While I have the right to be born in a palace, I'm going to give up that right. Without ceasing who He was, He voluntarily gave up the prerogatives of deity in order to be a savior.

If Jesus Christ, the only celebrity of the universe, the only person who will never have anybody greater than him ever born, was willing to give up His prerogative and humble Himself to be a servant for all of mankind, who do you think you are? That you are so big, have so much notoriety, drive such a nice car, live in such a great neighborhood, have pocketed that much money that you can't give up your prerogatives for the purpose of servicing the plan and the program of God. Who do you think you are?

John 13, you don't have to turn there, read it sometime. Jesus Christ is getting ready to be arrested the next day. He is now gathered for His final meal prior to His crucifixion with His disciples.

It says when the disciples came into the upper room, Jesus Christ removed His garment, wrapped Himself in a towel, got on His knee and wiped the disciples' feet. This blew their minds.

They said, "Wait a minute, you're not supposed to be doing that." And when He finishes serving them, He says, "Now, when I'm gone, you do likewise." In other words, if I wasn't too good to do it, you're not too good to do it. I want you to be known when I'm gone by your servanthood.

By your servanthood. But that's not all. They sit down to eat, and He sops the bread. You remember growing up in the country, biscuits and gravy? Okay, sop is when you take the bread, you wrap it in the lamb's meat because it was Passover, and you dip it in the gravy.

It's kind of a de jure kind of situation where you would wrap the lamb in dough, you would dip it in the gravy and sop. Okay? So they are sopping this Passover meal.

Jesus says as they are eating, "One of you will betray me. One of you is getting ready to turn me in." So the disciples are asking each other, who's going to turn him in? Which one? Is it I? Is it I? Is it I?

Jesus Christ dips the Passover meal in the gravy, turns to Judas and says, "Eat." Wait a minute now. He's the man getting ready to turn you in. He's getting ready to turn you in and getting ready to kill you.

He's getting ready to get you killed for 30 pieces of silver. On His final meal before He's getting ready to die, Jesus puts the Passover lamb. Now what was the purpose of the Passover lamb? The Passover lamb was the lamb that was slain for the temporary forgiveness of sin.

Jesus would be the permanent Passover lamb, but right now He hasn't died yet, so He's still using the temporary Passover lamb. He takes the temporary Passover lamb, puts it in some gravy, and says to Judas who's getting ready to betray Him, even though I know you're getting ready to betray me, even though I know you're a liar and a cheat, even though I know you are not out for my good, I'm still offering you some Passover lamb.

I'm still offering you forgiveness. I'm still offering you my life. Jesus was willing to say, "Even though I know you don't mean me any good, I'm still going to serve you." That's what Jesus meant when He said you can love your enemies and you could serve your enemies.

Because Jesus knew that God had a plan on the other side of that cross that even His enemies couldn't do. So He was even willing to offer Judas His betrayer servanthood. Servanthood is a powerful thing.

Yes, God wants to do for you. Yes, He wants to bless you, but He also wants to be a blessing through you. One of the greatest prayers you can pray to God is saying, "God, this is what I want for me, and if You give it, this is how I'm going to use it for others."

Once you connect others to it, God's ears perk up. What did you say? You mean this is not just about you? The Bible says, because of the grace of God you've received, make sure that you serve others with it, that you serve others with it.

You must do good to all you can, by all means you can, in all the ways you can, every time you can, in every place that you can, for all the people you can, for as long as you can. No, you can't serve everybody, but you sure enough can serve somebody.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans will return in a moment with a final comment to wrap up today's message on the spirit of servanthood, which brings to a close his powerful sermon compilation called Parenting on Purpose. If you've missed some of the lessons along the way, or if you'd like to share this collection with a friend or within a small group study, it's available for you to own for playback anytime, anywhere, and it even includes extra material we haven't had time to present on the air.

Through today only, we're also offering a complimentary copy of the Raising Kingdom Kids book to anyone who makes a donation and requests the 13-part Parenting on Purpose package. These resources work together to provide practical help for parents who want to strengthen their families and raise children with a clear understanding of God's truth.

To take advantage of this offer before it's too late, visit tonyevans.org right away, or call our resource center at 1-800-800-3222, where team members are ready to help anytime of the day or night. That's 1-800-800-3222. Just when we think we're ready for what God has in store for us, we often discover that God thinks we're ready for more preparation and purification.

Tomorrow, Dr. Evans helps us understand the purpose behind the detours that occur in our lives. Right now, though, he's back with these closing words for today.

Tony Evans: The movie is called The Hanging Tree. It's one of those old Western classics. It was with Gary Cooper. And Gary Cooper was a doctor, and this young cowboy was shot. And Gary Cooper as the doctor took the knife and cut him open and dug out the bullet, wrapped him up, took care of him for weeks until he recovered.

He's now healthy again. The cowboy said, "Sir, what can I do for you? Doc, what can I do for you? You saved my life." He said, "Well, you know, I do this every day. I need somebody to help me. Why don't you become my assistant and serve alongside of me? I'll teach you."

Cowboy wanted to know, how long you want me to do this? He said, "I want you to do this for the rest of your life, because that's how long you would have been dead if I hadn't saved you." How long would you have spent eternity from God if He hadn't saved you? How long?

See, when you understand what the Doc has done, then serving him is no problem. That's why the devil has got to cause you to forget what the Savior has done, because once you forget it, then you don't feel responsibility to it. But if you see the most spiritual people I know don't lose sight of the cross. They don't forget what happened there for them.