I end most of my letters with “God’’s most unworthy servant,” and many people have called me on the carpet for it, saying that we are now worthy, having been made so by Jesus.
To all who have replied to me in this way and to all those who think they are right, I tell you now that I heard this straight from heaven. I was told beyond a doubt that I am God’s most unworthy servant. And to all who doubt me I ask that you consider what Jesus said when the first apostles asked Him to increase their faith:
Luke 17:5-10,
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
6 And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea ‘; and it would obey you.
7 “Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come immediately and sit down to eat’?
8 “But will he not say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink ‘?
9 “He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he?
10 “So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’”
I, personally, agree with Jesus, none of us are worthy of anything, much less the things of God. I also believe too much has been said about who we are in Christ. It bothers me every time I hear someone mention it. I believe with all my heart that we should be concerned about who Christ is within us, not who we are in Him.
It’s a well known fact that most people who talk about who we are in Christ are power hungry lovers of themselves. They crave the Jesus who was given all authority in heaven and on earth after He completed His mission on earth, but run from the Jesus who was despised and rejected among men. They will gladly follow the Jesus who worked miracles, but shun the Jesus who suffered outside the gate, bearing His reproach.
These people are enemies, for they consider themselves equal with Christ and the Father. Most of them do not know they are enemies of God and His chosen people, because they have been taught by wolves in sheep’s clothing.
I hope I haven’t upset anyone or hurt anyone’s feelings, but it is more than evident that even if we have faith to uproot mulberry trees, or to move mountains, or to raise the dead, we are nothing more than unworthy servants doing what we are told to do.
May God’s grace and blessings be on the humble and the grateful who bear our Lord’s reproach outside the gate.
In His wonderful name,
Jon David Banks, God’s most unworthy servant
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org
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