"Save me, God!".
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In church life there are various rituals and sacraments that are used very often and we have already become accustomed to them. Just like some church words become so familiar to us that we sometimes don’t even think about their meaning. Thus, many contradictions arise regarding the use of such an expression as “servant of God.” Some believe that such a statement degrades human dignity. But before jumping to hasty conclusions, it’s worth understanding why parishioners are called servants of God.
Son of man
The figure of Jesus Christ is fundamental not only for Christianity, but also for all humanity as a whole. The letter to the Corinthians says that he became poor for our sake. In the Epistle to the Philistines we can read that Christ destroyed, emptying himself, took on the form of a servant, humbling himself. Son of man, Lord, Lamb of God, Eternal Word, Alpha and Omega, Vindicator, Lord of the Sabbath, Savior of the world - these are the epithets and many others that are applied to Jesus. Christ himself calls himself the way, the truth and the life, and, despite such majestic names, he took on the form of a servant, being the son of God. Jesus is the servant of God, Christ is the son of God.
Slave or son
According to Jewish concepts, there was nothing derogatory in the word “slave”; this was the name given to workers in the house, who were sometimes treated as members of the family. If Roman slave owners did not consider their servants to be people, then the Jews treated them completely differently. On Saturdays, the slave owner was obliged to free the servants from work, because according to the laws of the Jews, working on this day was a sin.
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The Lord sent His Son to die for the sake of people, so that by fulfilling the commandments and believing in the Redeeming Blood, they could enter the Kingdom of God.
A sinful person leaves his past life, submits himself to the will of God, living according to His laws. At the same time, he loses worldly freedom, discovering the riches of Heaven. In terms of submission, we are slaves of God, but in difficult moments, every Christian can turn to the Almighty as to the Father, automatically becoming a son or daughter to Him.
Important! Anyone can pass from a slave to a son; this is a certain period of communication between a Christian and the Holy Trinity.
Jesus himself, when he spoke about the secret prayer room, taught to address the Creator as the Father - “Our Father.”
If only the fear of God lives in a person, then he will do everything well, correctly, but without much joy. This is slavery for the sake of salvation, thank God that in this way many people come to eternal life. The Son of God, no matter whether Orthodox or Catholic, rejoices in communion with the Father and Savior, he hears the Holy Spirit and knows his rights in the spiritual world.
Prayer to God
The Son of God has complete freedom from sin:
lies and hypocrisy; love of money; worship of other gods; fornication; theft; disrespect for parents.
In his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul utters a phrase that is contradictory from the point of view of ordinary people, that only by being freed from sin can one become a slave of God. (Rom. 8:22) Paul continues his thought in his letter to the Corinthians, emphasizing that a huge price has been paid for every Christian, so there is no point in falling back into the slavery of sin. (1 Cor. 7:23)
The Ephesian church also received instructions regarding the slavery of the Lord, where it is said that the will of the Creator can be carried out by the servants of Jesus. (Eph. 6:6)
Saint John, after being in the Heavenly Kingdom, in “Revelation” (Rev. 19:5) writes a command that all servants of God can praise Him.
Now we see that to be a servant of the Creator, to give ourselves into slavery to Jesus, is a great honor and reward.
About the Bible:
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Christians are servants of the Almighty
What does servant of God mean? When the word “slave” is mentioned, associations arise with inequality, cruelty, lack of freedom, poverty, and injustice. But this refers to the social slavery that society has created and fought against for many centuries. Victory over slavery in the social sense does not guarantee spiritual freedom. Throughout the history of the church, Christians have called themselves servants of God. One of the definitions of the word “slave” means a person who is completely devoted to something. Therefore, a servant of God means a Christian who strives to completely surrender to the will of God. And also observing his commandments, fighting one’s own passions.
Is every Christian worthy to be called a servant of God? Referring to the definition above, of course not. All people are sinners, and only a few manage to devote themselves entirely to Christ. Therefore, every believer in the Almighty is obliged to call himself a servant of God with reverence, humility and great joy. But human pride and ignorance often take over. The spoken word “slave” and all the associations associated with it sometimes obscure the ending of the epithet we are considering. In our understanding, the exploitative and arrogant attitude of the master towards his servant is natural. But Christ destroys this pattern by saying that we are his friends if we do what he commanded us.
“I no longer call you slaves, since the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends,” he says in the Gospel of John. When reading the Gospel of Matthew or during a service in an Orthodox church while singing the third antiphon, we learn from the words of Christ that blessed will be the peacemakers - they will be called sons of God. But here we are talking about the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, any Christian is obliged to honor only Jesus Christ as the son of God. That is why the servant of God, and not the son of God.
Is it honorable to be a servant of God? Is this a strength or a weakness?
Priest Victor Flach
Table of contents
- “What does it mean to be a servant of God?”
- On the issue of strength and weakness
- What does the Holy Scripture say about the concept of “servant of God”
- The love of the Heavenly King for His servants. Measure of God's Love
- How is the position of the servant of God described in the Gospel?
- The servant of God is a warrior of Christ and the adopted son of God the Father, a co-corporal of Christ - God by nature
- What awaits the servants of God, what is prepared for them?
- What is outside the Kingdom of God and the subjects of the Great King - the servants of God?
Modern new pagans consider Christianity to be the religion of the weak; they say that being a servant of God is humiliating and unworthy of man. Honoring their idols - the soulless sun, Perun and other pagan idols, they proudly declare: “My god does not call me a slave.” However, the last statement is quite understandable - the pagan gods do not call anyone in any way, because they cannot talk, because are inanimate creations.
So, is it a shame to recognize over oneself the dominion of the One All-Good Uncreated God, the Creator of the whole world, or is the power in the words of a modern new pagan who says: “I am not a slave of God, even though He is the Lord and Creator of the entire Universe, having power over the world by right Creator - I’m on my own”?
Before answering the question: “Is it honorable to be a servant of God, is this strength or weakness?”, let’s think: what does it mean to be a servant of God? For clarity, let us consider as an analogy some examples of slavery among people. If a person has become the slave of another person, then this slave can no longer be anyone’s slave except his master. And the owners of slaves, as we know, could have different social statuses. One owner could be a simple shoemaker. And the other could be a king. The king's slave was always higher than the shoemaker's slave, and sometimes simply noble people were lower in status than the king's slave. And whoever would dare to touch the king’s servant, insulting and offending the king’s slave is a challenge and humiliation of the king himself. And who can compare the status and greatness of the king of the earth with the greatness of the Lord of the whole world, at whom even the holy angels do not dare to look, but hide their faces from the radiance of the glory of the Great King.
From these reflections we see that being a servant of God is a great honor.
“What does it mean to be a servant of God?”^
To be a slave means to work for your master. And if a person is a slave of the All-Good, All-Wise, One Uncreated God, then what is the subject of his work, what does he work for? And he works for Truth itself, for Love itself, for Righteousness, for Eternity and therefore he receives an eternal reward.
Is such work shameful or commendable? Honorable or humiliating?
And on the contrary, if a person is not a servant of God, then he also works, but for another master. He works for untruth, for his own belly, for the search for pleasure, for the satisfaction of his passions. Therefore, those who believe that they are not slaves to anyone. They say: “We are not slaves, we are not slaves.” In fact, of course, they are mistaken; they are slaves, first of all, of their sins; by pleasing their passions, they are slaves of demons and the devil himself. Therefore, the Lord says to such people: “Get away from Me, all workers of unrighteousness, I don’t know you.”
On the issue of strength and weakness^
A person himself is very weak, he cannot even withstand a collision with a car, he cannot live without air for 10 minutes, he needs to eat and drink, and at the same time it is not bad at all to have warm clothes. Only the One Uncreated God is self-sufficient, He has all the perfections that our consciousness can imagine: He has no age, because. abides outside of time and is its Creator, He has no beginning in His existence, but He Himself is the Source of life for everything, He cannot grow old or change, it is impossible to add anything to perfection and nothing can be subtracted from it. And a simple person, a slave of the Highest King, becomes involved in His infinite power. Therefore, the servant of God is a strong man, because... the source of his power is not in himself but in the infinite Uncreated God. How can a person be involved in Divine power? Let's look at examples. Let's look at David and Goliath - who is stronger? It is obvious that the fragile and meek David with God is far superior in strength to the giant Goliath. And what source of strength did Samson, George the Victorious, or our hero Ilya Muromets have? St. St. Maxim the confessor says: “I and God are already the majority, and the overwhelming majority.” If God is with us, then who can be against us? Let's look at the Orthodox martyrs - did they win or lose? What did their torturers get from them? Were they able to force and torture the Orthodox martyrs to renounce Christ and sacrifice to idols? Who was the source of their strength and courage? From acts of martyrdom we know how many tormentors beat a Christian with sticks and fell exhausted from fatigue - they lacked strength, but the martyr remained firm and unyielding, because the source of the martyr’s firmness and courage was the inexhaustible power of Christ. Who turned out to be stronger: the pagan torturer, or the Christian martyr? And the tormentors, seeing the power of God operating abundantly in the holy martyrs, declared themselves Christians, dooming themselves to bodily death and receiving an incorruptible martyr’s crown and an incorruptible reward from the Great King of Kings, Christ.
So our second conclusion: the servant of God is a strong man, and the source of his strength is not in pumped up muscles, but in the Infinite and Uncreated God.
Is it possible to say about the devil that he is a servant of God? Yes, you can, only he is a disobedient slave, stubborn, whose neck will also bow before God. On the day of God's Judgment, the devil will be thrown at the feet of Christ, and then thrown into the lake of fire.
What does the Holy Scripture say about the concept of “servant of God”^
It is necessary first to speak of the character of our Master, the King of heaven and earth, the Creator of the entire Universe, the King of angels and all saints.
From examining examples of human slavery, we know that the owner of a slave may have different moral characteristics. One owner can be kind, generous, honest... And another owner can be evil, envious, a fornicator, a drunkard, stingy, and money-loving.
Which King do we honor: – Creator of the Universe, the One Uncreated, Almighty, Wise, Perfect God, Who is perfect in everything. Perfection cannot be flawed in any way; it cannot change. The whole world and time itself have a beginning, and the cause of the beginning is the Beginningless One, the One who never began. He created us, and He alone is worthy of honor. Isn’t it madness if God’s creation (man), instead of its Creator, begins to glorify and deify another creation, and an inanimate one? (We will reflect separately on the perfections of the Creator of the Universe in more detail).
We have spoken briefly of the character and perfections of our King. It is necessary to realize that slaves can have different moral characteristics. They can be good or evil, faithful or careless.
How is the position of the good, faithful “servant of God” described in the Gospel? Let us consider the relationship between our Lord the King and the servants of God, as they are described in the Gospel.
The Lord speaks of the awake servant this way: “Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning. And you be like people who wait for their master to return from marriage, so that when he comes and knocks, they will immediately open the door for him. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, finds awake. Truly I tell you, he will gird himself and make them sit down, and he will come and serve them.” (Luke 12:23–48).
Let us remember the Last Supper. The Lord Himself girded Himself, seated His disciples, came up and began to serve them, and washed their feet. (John 13:4-7). Let's look at the position of the “good servant” in the Gospel, is it humiliating? Is it humiliating to be a slave of such a King, a servant of God?
Interpretation of this Gospel passage:
For such a servant, the Lord himself becomes the servant. For it is said: “And he will seat them, and come and serve them.” The lord in this parable is Christ the Son of God (as a Person without a beginning, born and born of the Father before all ages, just as light is born from light, and the source of light cannot be without the light itself, but if the source of light is eternal, then the light emanating from it eternal, has no beginning, but is born eternally and continuously). He, having taken human nature as a bride and united it with Himself, created marriage, clinging to her as one flesh. He returns from the heavenly marriage, openly before everyone, at the end of the universe, when He comes from heaven in the glory of the Father. And it also returns invisibly and unexpectedly, appearing at any time, at the death (at death) of everyone in particular. Blessed Theophylact.
“Blessed are those servants...” With this tributary saying, the Lord wants to point out the certainty of the righteous reward that all His faithful servants will receive at the opening of the glorious Kingdom of the Messiah: the master himself will show such slaves as much attention as they give him, so the Messiah will worthily reward His watchful ones slaves Lopukhin).
“And if he comes in the second watch, and in the third watch, and finds them in this way, then blessed are those servants. You know that if the owner of the house had known what time the thief would come, he would have been awake and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. Be ready, too, for at an hour you do not think, the Son of Man will come. Then Peter said to Him: “Lord!” Are you speaking this parable to us, or to everyone? The Lord said: “Who is the faithful and prudent steward, whom the master appointed over his servants to distribute to them a measure of bread in due time?” Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, finds doing this. Truly I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.” (Luke 12:23–48).
(Explanation of the concept of the first, second, third “watch” is the different ages of a person: the first is youth, the second is courage, and the third is old age. So, blessed is he who, at any age, is found vigilant and not careless about virtues).
“If that servant says in his heart: “My master will not come soon,” and begins to beat the servants and maidservants, eat and drink and get drunk, then the master of that servant will come on a day on which he does not expect, and at an hour, in which he does not think, and will cut him up, and subject him to the same fate as the infidels. The servant who knew the will of his master, and was not ready, and did not do according to his will, will be beaten a lot; but whoever did not know and did something worthy of punishment will receive less punishment. And from everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required, and to whom much has been entrusted, from him will be required more.” (Luke 12:23–48)
The love of the Heavenly King for His servants. The measure of God's love^
“If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. I have spoken these things to you, so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:15–27).
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hireling, and not the shepherd, the one to whom the sheep are not his own, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and runs (and the wolf kidnaps them and scatters them), because he is a hireling, and he does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know Mine, and Mine know Me. As the Father knows Me, I also know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep - not from this fold, and these I must bring, and they will hear My voice, and there will be one flock, one Shepherd. Therefore the Father loves Me, because I lay down My soul in order to receive it again. No one took it from Me, but I lay it down Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I received this commandment from My Father.” (John 10:11–18).
In the Gospel, Christ repeatedly said that He came to earth not to “be served, but to serve and to give His soul as a ransom for many” (Gospel of Mark, chapter 10, verse 45).
How is the position of the servant of God described in the Gospel?
In order to give eternal life to His servants, our King belittled (depleted) Himself, and He Himself took on the form of a slave, becoming like men and becoming in appearance like a man.” (Phil.2:7)
Interpretation of the text: He voluntarily defrauded Himself, devastated Himself, laid aside His own, stripping Himself of the visible glory and greatness inherent in the Divinity and Himself, as belonging to God. In this regard, some understand that He diminished: He hid the glory of His Divinity. “God by nature, having equality with the Father, having hidden his dignity, chose extreme humility” (Blessed Theodoret).
The following words explain how He humbled Himself. “We have taken on the form of a slave,” that is, having taken upon ourselves a created nature. Which one exactly? Human: in the likeness of humanity I was. Has human nature received any difference from this? No. Like all people, so was He: He was found in the image of a man.
He took on the image of a slave. Who? He who is in the image of God is God by nature. If He accepted as God, then after His acceptance God remained, taking on the form of a servant. The look of a slave is not a sign, but a norm of a slave. The word: servant is used in contrast to the Divine in the words: in the image of God. There the image of God means the norm of the Divine nature, the Creative Divinity; here the image of a slave means the norm of a slave - a created nature, working for God. We have accepted the form of a slave - having accepted a created nature, which, no matter what degree it stands, is always at work with God. What followed from this? That which is without beginning begins; omnipresent - determined by place, eternal - lives through days, months and years; all-perfect - increases in age and intelligence; all-containing and all-animating - feeds and is supported by Others; omniscient - does not know; omnipotent - binds; he who exudes life dies. And He goes through all this, by the nature of God, the created nature He assumed upon Himself. Holy Theophan the Recluse.
So, Christ's self-abasement is the most beautiful manifestation of love (1 John 4:10). When Christ came into the sinful world, He did not have riches and glory (2 Cor. 8:9), was subjected to ridicule, temptation and torment (Heb. 4:15, 5:7-8), endured suffering according to human nature (Luke 4 :2), having become like man in everything except sin (Heb. 4:16), experienced being abandoned by God (Matt. 27:46), was condemned as a criminal, suffered death and burial (Matt. 27:60), taking upon himself our sins (1 Pet. 2:24) and restoring human nature to newness of life with God (Rom. 6:3). Likewise, Christians, wanting to live according to the Gospel, deny themselves and bear their cross with joy (Luke 9:23), not being carried away by the blessings of this world, privileges, wealth, pleasures.
The servant of God is a warrior of Christ and the adopted son of God the Father, a co-corporal of Christ - God by nature^
A person receiving Baptism is called not just a slave, but a warrior of Christ. In baptism, the unclean spirit that was in him from birth to Baptism is expelled from his heart. And he enters the victorious ranks of the soldiers of Christ. God cannot but be a winner, and the soldiers of Christ are winners, because... possess the infinite power of the Uncreated God.
Against whom does the warrior of Christ fight, answers St. ap. Paul: “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12).
It is against the cunning of demons, their intrigues that St. Paul advises us, as soldiers of Christ, to stand courageously: “Stand, having your loins girded with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of preaching peace; and above all, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery arrows of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” (Eph.6:14).
I will say more: in Baptism a person is adopted by God, and dares to call God the Creator of the whole world his Father. “Our Father,” this is how God’s servants address their Great King, the Uncreated God.
“You are My friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have told you everything that I have heard from My Father. I am going to My Father and your Father.” (John 15:15–27)
What awaits the servants of God, what is prepared for them?^
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9).
“Reverend Seraphim of Sarov said: “Once I prayed to the Lord that He would bring me into communication with Him and show me His heavenly abodes. And the Lord did not deprive me of His mercy. He fulfilled my desire and request. So I was caught up in these abodes, but I don’t know whether with the body or apart from the body. God knows - it's incomprehensible. But it’s impossible to say about the joy and heavenly sweetness that I tasted there.” After a long silence, sighing from the depths of his soul, the Monk Seraphim said to his disciple again: “Oh, if you knew what joy, what sweetness awaits the soul of the righteous in Heaven, then you would decide in temporary life to endure all kinds of sorrows, persecution and slander with thanksgiving... There is no illness, no sorrow, no sighing... There is joy and sweetness unspeakable, there the righteous will be enlightened like the sun. But if the Apostle Paul himself could not explain such heavenly glory, then what other human language can explain the glory and beauty of the mountain village in which righteous souls dwell.” ?
The Lord says: “He who loves his life will destroy it; But he who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life. Whoever serves Me, let him follow Me, and where I am, there will My servant also be; and whoever serves Me, My Father will honor him. (John 12:25)
Where is Christ? - at the right hand of God the Father. Do you see to what height the servants of God are raised?
What is outside the Kingdom of God and the subjects of the Great King - the servants of God?^
“And outside are dogs (i.e. homosexuals), and sorcerers, and fornicators, and murderers, and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices iniquity (i.e., who works for iniquity).” (Rev. 21:8)
“But the fearful, the unbelieving, the abominable, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. This is the second death" (Rev. 22:15)
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor wicked people, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Cor. 6:9).
Many voluntarily deprive themselves of the honor of the title of “servant of God”, not wanting to cleanse the dirt from their souls in Baptism, Confession and Communion, or by renouncing Christ, and fulfilling their whims, pleasing their passions, they become slaves of “simple shoemakers” - vile, unclean demons, fallen angels, they are the masters of all the non-slaves of God.
So, I call on all Christians to worthily bear the honorary title of servant of God - Almighty of the whole world, the title of warrior of Christ, and not to lose the divine adoption given to us as a gift.
Christ bless everyone!
***
Social and spiritual slavery
Any slavery means a restriction of freedom in a person, in his entire being. The concepts of social and spiritual slavery are very different, but they are also related. These concepts are quite simple to consider through the prism of earthly wealth or financial well-being, in modern terms.
Slavery of earthly riches is heavier than any suffering. Those who have been honored to be freed from it are well aware of this. But in order for us to know true freedom, it is necessary to break the bonds. It is not gold that should be kept in our house, but what is more valuable than all worldly goods—philanthropy and almsgiving. This will give us hope for salvation, liberation, and gold will cover us with shame before God and will largely contribute to the influence of the devil on us.
Slavery and freedom
God's most precious gift to man, the gift of love, is freedom. Of course, the religious experience of freedom is so unknown and difficult to people, just as the experience of the law is simple. Modern humanity without Christ still lives like the ancient Jews under the yoke of the law. All modern state laws are a reflection of natural laws. The most insurmountable slavery, the strongest shackles, is death.
All human liberators, rebels, ardent rebels remain only slaves in the hands of death. It is not given to all the imaginary liberators to understand that without the liberation of a person from death, everything else is nothing. The only person among humanity who rises to death is Jesus. Just as “I will die” is natural and normal for each of us, for him it is “I will be resurrected.” He was the only one who felt the strength in himself necessary to defeat death by death both in himself and in all of humanity. And people believed it. And, although not many, will believe until the end of time.
Liberator
The truth will set us free. This is what the Evangelist John tells us. Imaginary freedom is a slave revolt, a bridge organized by the devil from the social insignificant slavery, which we call revolution, to the future totalitarian slavery of the Antichrist. The devil no longer hides this face in the historical period that we call modernity. Therefore, right now, to perish or to be saved by the world means to reject or accept the word of the liberator before the enslaver: “If the Son sets you free, you will be truly free” (John 8:36). Slavery under the Antichrist, freedom in Christ - this is the upcoming choice of humanity.
What the Bible Says
So is man a servant of God or a son of God? The concept of “slave,” which came to us from the Old Testament, is very different from the modern understanding of this term. In ancient Israel, kings and prophets called themselves servants of God, thereby emphasizing their special purpose on earth, as well as expressing the impossibility of serving anyone other than the Lord God.
Servant of God in Ancient Israel was a title that could only be awarded to kings and prophets, through whom the Lord himself communicated with the people. Considering slavery as a social component, it should be noted that in Ancient Israel slaves were practically full members of their master’s family. It is noteworthy that before the birth of Abraham's son, his servant Eleazar was his main heir. After the birth of Isaac, Abraham sends his servant Eleazar with many gifts and instructions to find a bride for his son.
These examples clearly show the difference between slavery in Ancient Israel and slavery in Ancient Rome, with which the concept of this term is usually associated among our contemporaries.
In the Gospel, Christ tells a parable about a vineyard. The master created a vineyard and hired workers to work on it. Every year he sent his slaves to check the work done. It is noteworthy that hired workers work in the vineyard, and slaves are the trustees of their master.
Dignity of the human person
Archpriest Alexander Glebov
Modern society considers life and human dignity to be the highest values; as for life, everything is clear. Here the church takes a leading position, protecting the child even in the womb, but with dignity, not everything is so simple. The question arises: why do believers call themselves “slaves”? “Servant of God”, “servant of God” - where is the dignity here?
The fact is that our spoken language is very different from the language of Holy Scripture, and such a concept as “servant of God” came to us from the Bible, moreover, from its most ancient part, which is called the “Old Testament”. In the Old Testament, “servant of God” is the title of the kings and prophets of Israel. By calling themselves “servants of God,” the kings and prophets of Israel thereby testified that they are no longer subject to anyone, they no longer recognize anyone’s authority over themselves except the power of God - they are His slaves, they have their own special mission in the world. There is such a parable in the Gospel: about the evil winegrowers. It tells how the master planted a vineyard, called workers to work in this vineyard, to cultivate it, and every year he sent his slaves to them to watch the work and take accountability. The workers of the vineyard drove these slaves away, then he sent his son to them, they killed the son, and after that the master of the vineyard passed his judgment. So - pay attention - it is not slaves who work in the vineyard, but hired workers, and slaves represent the master - these are his proxies, they communicate the will of the master to the workers. These slaves were the prophets of Israel, who communicated the will of God to the people. God himself spoke to people through the prophets. Therefore, “servant of God” is a very high title, which indicated a special relationship between God and man, a special spiritual status of man.
Today, in a similar sense, “servant of God” is contained, perhaps, only in the title of the Roman pontiff. Among the many titles of the Pope of Rome, these are: the Vicar of Jesus Christ, and the successor of the Prince of the Apostles, the Patriarch of the West, the Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, the Monarch of the Vatican City State, and so on. And so this long list ends - “the servant of the servants of God,” that is, thereby the Roman bishop, as it were, also points to his exceptional position, to his exceptional status in the world.
In the New Testament, the title “servant of God” became more widespread; every Christian, every baptized person began to call himself a servant of God, and many people, indeed, are shocked by this. But in our minds, a slave is such a powerless creature, chained, and people say - we do not want to call ourselves slaves, we are free citizens, yes, we are believers, but we do not agree to call ourselves slaves! If you think about it, it is simply impossible to be a slave of God in the sense in which we imagine slavery, because slavery is violence against the human person, but God does not force anyone to do anything. After all, the very idea that God can forcibly subjugate someone is absurd, because it would contradict God’s plan for man. After all, God created man completely free and man wants - believes in God, wants - does not believe in God, wants - loves God, wants - does not love God, wants - does what God tells him, but wants - does not do what God tells him. Remember, in the parable of the prodigal son, the son comes up to his father and says to him: “Give me the due part of my inheritance, and I will leave you.” And the father does not interfere, he gives that part of the inheritance that was due to the youngest son and he leaves. And today, as at all times, the mass of people turns away from God and leaves him, and God does not force them to be with Himself, He does not punish them for this. He takes care of human freedom, so what kind of slavery can we even talk about here? Who really enslaves a person is the devil. A person is enslaved by sin and, once falling into the orbit of the attraction of evil, it can be difficult for a person to get out of this vicious circle. We know, everyone knows from their own lives, how difficult it can be to overcome sin. And you repent of it, you repent, you understand that this sin prevents you from living, that it brings you suffering, but a person does not always succeed in escaping from these claws of the devil. Only with God's help. Only the mercy of God can snatch a person from the power of sin. Here I will give an example. Of course, this example is extreme, but it is understandable to everyone. Look at a drug addict - he would be glad to become a healthy person, he understands that this disease leads him to suffering, leads him to quick death, but he cannot do anything! This is a real slave, chained hand and foot, it is no longer his will, he does the will of his master, he does the will of his master, he does the will of the devil. And in this sense, look, a person can easily leave God when he wants and God does not hinder him, but breaking away from the devil can be very, very difficult!
Of course, the title “servant of God” is used only in the sacramental life of the Church; in such simple human communication we do not call each other servants of God. Let’s say at the service I don’t say to my altar boy: “Servant of God Vladimir, give me the censer,” I simply call him by name. But when the Church Sacraments are performed, then we add this title “servant of God.” For example, “a servant of God, such and such, is baptized,” “a servant of God, such and such, receives communion.” Or a prayer for health, or for peace - the title “servant of God” is also added before the name. And in this case - the servant of God - is evidence of this person’s faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and his intention to do what God commands, because without a person’s faith and without his intention to follow what the Lord tells him, any Sacrament will be profaned.
But what is also important to understand is that a servant of God does not reflect the essence of our relationship with God, because through the Incarnation God became a man, He became one of us, He called us His brothers, moreover, He says: “I no longer call you slaves , I call you my friends." Christ taught us to address God as Father - “Our Father”, “Our Father” - we say in prayer. And between family members there is an obligation to each other and, being children of God, we show our love for our Heavenly Father by serving Him, fulfilling His commandments. As the Lord Himself said about it: “If you love Me, then you will keep My commandments!” Servant of God means servant of God. And since in the New Testament God revealed himself as Love, as Truth, as Freedom, a person who dares to call himself a “servant of God” must understand that this obliges him to be not a servant of the devil, not a slave of sin, but a servant of love, truth and freedom. And to be honest, I can’t understand where this infringement of human dignity lies!
In prayers, when believers say the following words: “As a pig lies in the mud, so do I.” Isn't it humiliation to compare a person with a pig? I know an example about Leo Tolstoy, who in the book “Psalms” in the margin opposite the phrase: “I was conceived in iniquities and my mother gave birth in sin,” wrote: “But this is too much!” And today, comparison with a pig, humility, obedience, being called slaves is a certain threshold that simply cannot be crossed in order to enter the temple.
Let’s leave humility and obedience aside for now, but let’s talk about the words of these prayers, which for some may seem to offend their dignity. After all, all these prayers that you just mentioned are of a repentant nature, and when a person repents of something, when he laments, then not only in prayer, he can scold himself in everyday life. Moreover, he can beat himself, this gesture is to beat himself in the chest, what does this mean, it means to beat himself, that is, to punish yourself for the offense that you yourself committed. Sometimes these actions are accompanied by comparisons with animals, frankly speaking, not the most noble ones. As for the fiftieth psalm, it is called a psalm of repentance and is very widely used in prayer rules. David wrote this psalm after the prophet Nathan convicted him of the double crime of murdering a man and stealing another man's wife. And so, realizing what he had done, horrified by what he had done, David writes this fiftieth psalm and, in particular, these words that so confused Count Tolstoy: “I was conceived in iniquities, and in sin my mother gave birth to me.” And this repentant contrition of a specific person in his specific life situation can in no way be perceived as the position of the Christian church on the issues of conception and birth of a child. Of course, a person is not conceived in lawlessness and a person is not born in sin. Conception and birth are God’s commandments, they are God’s blessing, and certainly not a sin!
As far as I understand, we should not take Holy Scripture literally, in this case the book of Psalms?
A: When we read the Psalter, we must keep in mind that this is a certain literary genre, this is ancient Jewish poetry. And the “Psalter” contains everything that is inherent in this genre: imagery, exaggeration, and emotions. People wrote psalms for various reasons - thanksgiving to God, praise to God, a request for help, and repentance, and in moments of sorrow people wrote psalms. And, despite the fact that all this is Holy Scripture, we must clearly separate: where is the word of God, and where are human emotions.
Spiritual and educational television project “The Word”
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The concept of a servant of God in Christianity. Women of the Old Testament
The concept of “servant of God” appears in Old Testament history. As we discussed above, it meant the title of kings and prophets. Women, like most men, did not have the right to call themselves such an epithet. However, this does not appeal to the female personality.
Women, like men, could participate in religious Jewish holidays and make sacrifices to God. This suggests that they were personally accountable to the Lord. The important thing is that the woman could directly turn to God in her prayer. The following historical examples confirm this. Thus, the prophet Samuel was born through the prayer of childless Anna. God entered into communication with Eve after the Fall. The Almighty communicates directly with Samson's mother. The importance of women in the history of the Old Testament cannot be overestimated. The actions and decisions of Rebekah, Sarah, and Rachel are of great significance for the Jewish people.
As the church explains
Many clergy say that the emphasis in the phrase “servant of God” should be placed on the second word. If you belong to the Lord, then you cannot be anyone else’s. To become a servant of God means to gain incredible freedom. “Slavery” to the Lord is also considered a greater measure of freedom than slavery to one’s passions and stereotypes.
So there is no need to attach special importance to such sayings. The most important thing is faith in the Lord and following the commandments of the Lord.
The Lord is always with you!
The Role of Women in the New Testament
“Behold, the servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:28-38). With these words, the Virgin Mary humbly answers the angel who brought her the news of the future birth of the son of God. And so, for the first time in the history of mankind, the concept of “servant of God” appears. Who, if not the Virgin Mary, blessed among women, is destined to be the first to accept this great spiritual title? The Mother of God is glorified throughout the Christian world. Following the Mother of God is the servant of God Elizabeth, who immaculately conceived John the Baptist.
A striking example of this title are those who came to the Tomb of the Lord on the day of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ with incense and aromas for the ritual anointing of the body. Historical examples confirming the humility and faith of truly Christian women are also found in modern history. Nicholas II's wife Alexandra Feodorovna and his daughters are canonized.
The Church on the concept of “servant of God”
People, reading the phrase “servant of God,” emphasize the first word, clergy focus on the second.
A slave belongs to one master, who takes full care of him. No one can have authority over God's people except God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. The transition into the slavery of Jesus makes a person absolutely free; only faith and fulfillment of the commandments opens the doors of new life.
The transition into the slavery of Jesus makes a person absolutely free
In the Epistle to the Romans (Rom. 8:16-20), the Apostle Paul emphasizes that a person gives himself into slavery and at the same time chooses his master. When Jesus becomes the master of the Christian life, God's grace and blessing come into it.
Jesus, through the Apostle Paul, says that the time will come when the Holy Spirit will be poured out on the servants of God. (Acts 2:18) Paul did not write that the Holy Spirit would come only to the disciples; he emphasized that this grace would be given to those who gave themselves into spiritual slavery to the Savior, dressed in the bright clothes of heavenly purity.
Spiritual slavery in this case implies calmness and confidence in the future, submission and humility. The Holy Spirit will never descend where there is rebellion and impurity.
During a Catholic service, the priest often refers to parishioners as both slaves and children of God.
The Virgin Mary, having heard the news of her pregnancy, called herself a slave, one who surrenders to the power of her master with humility and gratitude. (Luke 1:38)
In the New Testament, all the apostles called themselves servants of God, so to be enslaved by Jesus is the highest blessing. The Bible contains the word "Doulos" which means:
slave; servant; subject.
Three stages of growth. The servant of our Lord Jesus Christ serves his Master, fulfilling His commands, becoming a type of His hands, helping people.
For the sake of sinful humanity, Jesus put on the dirty clothes of sin and slavery, humiliated himself for the sake of love, descended into hell, becoming like a man. (Phil. 2:6−8)
A true believing heart will strive to imitate the Savior, honorably calling itself a servant of God.
There are slaves by law, and there are slaves by love. In the 15th chapter of the Gospel of John it is written that Jesus no longer calls the disciples slaves, but treats them as friends, conveying to them everything “that he heard from the Father.”
Jesus Christ calls the disciples not slaves, but friends
People who consider themselves Christians, but do not want to be transformed into His image, to know His will, forever remain slaves in spirit, but this is not a slave of His Master, who wants to grow to the status of a friend, a son, filled with a new degree of relationship.
The son has power in his father's house, he has the right to inheritance.
Slave at prayer
Opening the prayer book and reading the prayers, we cannot help but notice that all of them are written from a man’s perspective. Often women have a question about whether it is worth using words in the feminine gender written from a male person. No one could answer this question more accurately than the holy fathers of the Orthodox Church. Ambrose of Optinsky argued that one should not worry about the petty accuracy of the rule (prayer), one should care more about the quality of prayer and spiritual peace. Ignatius Brianchaninov said that the rule (prayer) exists for man, and not man for the rule.
Use of the term in worldly life
Despite the fact that every Christian considers himself a servant of God, calling himself that in everyday life is undesirable on the advice of Orthodox priests. Not that this is blasphemy, but, as we have already discussed above, every Christian should treat this epithet with reverent respect and joy. This must live in the heart of a believer. And if this is really so, then no one will prove anything to anyone and declare it to the whole world.
The appeals “comrade” during Soviet times or “gentlemen” during Tsarist Russia are clear and natural. The conversion and utterance of the words “servant of God” should take place in an appropriate place for this, be it an Orthodox church, a monastery cell, a cemetery, or just a secluded room in an ordinary apartment.
The third commandment is strictly forbidden to take the name of the Lord in vain. Therefore, the pronunciation of this epithet is unacceptable in a comic form or as a greeting and in similar cases. In prayers for health, for repose and others, after the words “servant of God,” the name of the person praying or the one asked for in prayer should be written or pronounced. The combination of these words is usually either heard from the lips of the priest, or pronounced or mentally read in prayers. After the epithet “servant of God,” it is advisable to pronounce the name in accordance with the church spelling. For example, not Yuri, but Georgy.
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SLAVES ARE NOT US...
Reader's letter
Hello! I have a question that makes it difficult for me to accept the Orthodox Church. Why do Orthodox Christians call themselves “servants of God”? How can a normal, sane person humiliate himself like that and consider himself a slave? And how do you want to treat God, who needs slaves? From history we know what disgusting forms slavery took, how much cruelty, meanness, bestial attitude towards people there were, for whom no one recognized any rights, no dignity. I understand that Christianity originated in a slave-owning society and naturally inherited all its attributes. But two thousand years have passed since then, we live in a completely different world, where slavery is rightly considered a disgusting relic of the past. Why do Christians still use this word? Why aren’t they ashamed and disgusted to say to themselves “servant of God”? Paradox. On the one hand, Christianity is a religion of love; as far as I remember, there are even such words: “God is love.” On the other hand, there is an apology for slavery. What kind of love can there be for God if you perceive him as an all-powerful master, and yourself as a humiliated, powerless slave?
And further. If the Christian Church were truly built on the basis of love, it would take an irreconcilable position in relation to slavery. People who claim to love their neighbors cannot own slaves. However, we know from history that slavery was fully approved by the Church, and when it disappeared, it was not thanks to the activities of the Church, but rather in spite of it.
But there is one difficulty for me. I know some Orthodox Christians, they are wonderful people who really love their neighbors. If it weren't for them, I would consider all this Christian talk about love to be hypocrisy. And now I can’t understand how this can happen? How they combine this - love for people and their God - and at the same time the desire to be slaves. Some kind of masochism, don’t you think? Alexander, Klin, Moscow region.
A very peculiar version of the definition of the word “slave” is presented by the once popularly beloved writer, satirist, humorist, and now historian, Rodnover and linguistic freak, Mikhail Zadornov. Fragment of an interview with D. Gordon for Channel One Ukr. TV.
“...The servant of God will definitely make a mess when he goes out for barbecues and will definitely not pick up after himself. The Son of God will not do this, because the Pope (!) created the world and I cannot spoil things for the Pope. No one goes into his father’s room to shit except Ham..."
The audience laughs joyfully and is happy,
SLAVERY IN THE BIBLE
When we say the word “slave,” terrible scenes from Soviet textbooks on the history of Ancient Rome appear before our eyes. And even after the Soviet era, the situation has changed little, because we Europeans know about slavery almost exclusively from slavery to the Romans. Ancient slaves... Absolutely powerless, unfortunate, “human-like” creatures in shackles that cut through their arms and legs to the very bones... They were starved, beaten with whips and forced to work exhaustingly 24 hours a day. And the owner, in turn, can do whatever he wants with them at any moment: sell, pawn, kill...
This is the first misconception regarding the term “servant of God”: slavery among the Jews was strikingly different from slavery among the Romans, it was much softer.
Sometimes such slavery is called patriarchal. In the most ancient times, slaves were actually members of the master's family. A servant, a faithful person serving the owner of the house, could also be called a slave. For example, Abraham, the father of the Jewish people, had a slave Eliezer, and until the master had a son, this slave, called a “household member” in the Bible (!), was considered his main heir (Genesis, chapter 15, verses 2-3). And even after Abraham’s son was born, Eliezer did not at all look like an unfortunate creature in chains. The master sent him with rich gifts to find a bride for his son. And for Jewish slavery it is not surprising that he did not run away from the owner, appropriating property, but carried out a responsible assignment as his own business. The book of Proverbs of Solomon speaks about something similar: “A wise servant rules over a dissolute son, and divides the inheritance among his brothers” (chapter 17, verse 2). Christ, who preached in a specific cultural and historical setting, speaks about the image of such a slave.
The Law of Moses prohibited forever enslaving one's fellow tribesmen. Here's how the Bible says it: “If you buy a Hebrew slave, let him work for six years; and on the seventh let him be released freely. If he came alone, let him come out alone. And if he is married, let his wife also go out with him” (Exodus, chapter 21, verses 2-3).
Finally, the word “slave” is used widely in the Bible as a polite formula. When addressing the king or even just someone superior, a person called himself his slave. This is exactly what Joab, the commander of King David’s army, called himself, for example, being actually the second person in the state (2nd Book of Samuel, chapter 18, verse 29). And the completely free woman Ruth (David’s great-grandmother), addressing her future husband Boaz, called herself his slave (Book of Ruth, chapter 3, verse 9). Moreover, the Holy Scripture even calls Moses a servant of the Lord (Book of Joshua, chapter 1, verse 1), although this is the greatest Old Testament prophet, about whom elsewhere in the Bible it is said that “the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as if someone had spoken.” with his friend” (Exodus, chapter 33, verse 11).
Thus, Christ's immediate listeners understood His parables about the servant and master differently from modern readers. Firstly, the biblical slave was a member of the family, which means that his work was not based on coercion at all, but on devotion, loyalty to the owner, and it was clear to the listeners that this was about the honest fulfillment of his obligations. And secondly, for them there was nothing offensive in this word, because it was only an expression of respect for the master.
SLAVERY OF LOVE…
But even if the terminology of Jesus was clear to His listeners, why did subsequent generations of Christians and, what is most incomprehensible, modern Christians begin to use it, since several centuries have passed since society abandoned slavery, be it its Roman form, or its softer Jewish form? And here the second misconception arises regarding the expression “servant of God.”
The fact is that it has nothing to do with the social institution of slavery. When a person says about himself: “I am a servant of God,” he expresses his religious feeling.
And if social slavery in any form is always unfreedom, then religious feeling is free by definition. After all, people are free to choose whether to believe in God or not, to fulfill His commandments or to reject them. If I believe in Christ, then I become a member of the family - the Church, of which He is the Head. If I believe that He is the Savior, I can no longer treat Him with anything other than respect and awe. But even after becoming a member of the Church, becoming a “servant of God,” a person still remains free in his choice.
It is enough to recall, for example, Judas Iscariot, the closest disciple of Jesus Christ, who realized such freedom by betraying His Teacher.
Social slavery is always the slave’s fear (to a greater or lesser extent) of his master. But man’s relationship with God is not based on fear, but on love. Yes, Christians call themselves “servants of God,” but for some reason people who are perplexed about such a name do not notice these words of Christ: “You are My friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends…” (Gospel of John, chapter 15, verses 14-15). What does Christ command, why does He call His followers friends? This is a commandment to love God and neighbor. And when a person begins to fulfill this commandment, he discovers that one can only belong to God completely. In other words, he reveals his complete dependence on the Lord, who Himself is Love (1st Epistle of the Apostle John, chapter 4, verse 8). Thus, in the “strange” phrase “I am a servant of God,” a person puts into it a feeling of complete and complete dependence of his heart on the Lord, without Whom it cannot truly love. But this dependence is free.
WHO ABOLISHED SLAVERY?
And finally, the last misconception is that the Church supposedly supported social slavery, was at best passive, not protesting against it, and the abolition of this unjust social institution did not occur thanks to the activities of the Church, but rather, in spite of it. Let's see who abolished slavery and for what reasons? Firstly, where there is no Christianity, it is not considered shameful to keep slaves to this day (for example, in Tibet, slavery was abolished by law only in 1950). Secondly, the Church did not act using the methods of Spartacus, which led to a terrible “bloodbath,” but differently, preaching that both slaves and masters are equal before the Lord. It was this idea, which gradually matured, that led to the abolition of slavery.
For enlightened pagan Greeks like Aristotle, who lived in states where slavery of the “camp” type was the main thing, slaves were simply talking tools, and all barbarians - those who lived outside the ecumene - were slaves by nature for them. Finally, let's remember the recent historical past - Auschwitz and the Gulag. It was there that the teaching of the master man—the ruling race of the Nazis and the class consciousness of the Marxists—was replaced by the teaching of the Church about the servants of God.
The Church has never been and is not involved in political revolutions, but calls people to change their hearts. There is such an amazing book in the New Testament - the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to Philemon, the whole meaning of which is precisely in the brotherhood in Christ of slave and master. At its core, this is a small letter written by the apostle to his spiritual son, Philemon. Paul sends back to him a runaway slave who converted to Christianity, and at the same time very persistently demands that the master accept him as a brother. This is the principle of the social activity of the Church - not to force, but to convince, not to put a knife to the throat, but to give an example of personal dedication. Moreover, it is absurd to apply modern socio-cultural concepts to a situation 2000 years ago. This is the same as being outraged that the apostles do not have their own website. If you want to understand what the position of the Church and the Apostle Paul was regarding slavery, compare it with the position of their contemporaries. And look what Paul’s work brought into this world, how it changed it - slowly but surely.
And one last thing. In the Bible there is a book of the prophet Isaiah, where the coming Messiah-Savior appears in the form of a servant of the Lord: You will be My servant for the restoration of the tribes of Jacob and for the return of the remnants of Israel; but I will make You a light for the nations, so that My salvation may reach to the ends of the earth” (chapter 49, verse 6). In the Gospel, Christ repeatedly said that He came to earth not to be served, but to serve and to give His soul as a ransom for many” (Gospel of Mark, chapter 10, verse 45). And the Apostle Paul writes that Christ, for the salvation of people, took on “the form of a servant” (Epistle to the Philippians, chapter 2, verse 7). And if the Savior Himself called Himself a servant and servant of God, then will His followers be ashamed to call themselves that?
Testimonies of God's servants
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). Today many people in the church are trying to determine by signs how close the second coming of Christ is. Such a sign, for example, can be observed in the return of Jews to Israel. But the Lord makes it clear with the above words that the most striking sign of his second coming is that the Gospel will be preached to all nations as a testimony. In other words, the testimonies of God's servants (their life evidence) prove the reality of the gospel.
Why are people “servants of God” and not “children of God”?
A reader of Thomas sent a question to the editor:
“Please tell me why in the Christian religion people are “slaves of God”, and in paganism they are “children of the gods”? Perhaps I'm asking a stupid question, but answer anyway.
Michael"
We answer:
Let's start with the fact that in Christianity, people are not, strictly speaking, slaves. And certainly not slaves in the sense that we mean by the word “slave” today. Before answering the question asked on the merits, let’s fix the main thing:
God did not intend and never wanted to see man as a weak-willed, downtrodden executor of His orders.
Saying goodbye to his disciples after the Last Supper, the Lord Jesus Christ said to them: I no longer call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have told you everything that I have heard from My Father (John 15:15 ). “Friends of God” is how saints are traditionally called in Orthodox Christianity. And every person is called to holiness. The Lord also commanded the Old Testament Jews: Be holy, for I am holy (Lev. 11:44 ); the Apostle Peter reminded Christians of these words (1 Pet 1:16 ).
To become a friend of God, to become a saint - this is the “growing” task for every Christian, extremely high, but achievable for one who realizes the limitations of his own strength and asks for help from God, who strives to build a life according to His commandments.
Moreover, the commandments are not orders from God to some forced subordinates. These are rather hints from a loving Creator to those who have the right to choose, but who are lost and unhappy. And the purpose of the commandments is precisely to free people from everything that enslaves and deprives them of the fullness of life and joy.
Why do we so often hear this phrase in the Church - “servant of God”? First of all, simply because few people dare to call themselves “a friend of God.”
Abba Dorotheos and many other Church Fathers say that a person can fulfill the commandments of God for three reasons. Firstly, out of fear of punishment. Secondly, out of a desire to receive a reward, so to speak, a “pass to heaven.” And thirdly - unselfishly, out of love for God. The fear of punishment is characteristic of a slave. The desire to “earn” the Kingdom of Heaven is for a hired worker. And only when a person follows God out of love for Him can he be called His friend. And even a son or daughter. It is no coincidence that the prayer that Christ Himself gave to His disciples begins with a filial appeal to God: “Our Father!”
But until we have learned true love for God, we, unfortunately, more often put ourselves in the position of slaves than friends or children of God.
The reason for this is solely our own heart. And how God treats us is clearly seen from the parable of the prodigal son. The young man, who has wandered away from home for several years, returns to his father and prepares to tell him: “Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you, and am no longer worthy to be called your son; accept me as one of your hired servants." He is ready to return on any terms, at least as a hired servant. But the father, seeing his son, runs to meet him, hugs him and, without letting him finish, gives him the best clothes, puts a ring on his hand (a sign of authority to manage the house) and arranges a feast in honor of the long-awaited son, who was dead and came to life, was lost and was found (Luke 15 :11-24). To God we always remain beloved sons and daughters. But sometimes it is more useful for us to look at ourselves with a critical eye - as slaves. This is what the Lord advises us to do: When you have done everything commanded you, say: We are worthless servants, because we did what we had to do (Luke 17:10 ).
This is the first thing. But there is also a second thing:
If a person is someone’s slave, it means that he does not obey anyone else. To call yourself a servant of God means to confirm that you surrender yourself to God absolutely and completely: you fear no one except God, you are no longer a slave to anyone or anything: neither to people, nor to your own weaknesses and addictions, nor to television, nor to the Internet, nor politicians... No one but God.
Christians place the emphasis in the phrase “servant of God” on the second word. To become a servant of God means to gain freedom from any earthly addictions.
The Apostle Paul writes clearly about this: Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves as slaves to obey, you are also slaves... When you were slaves of sin, then you were free from righteousness, then you were free from righteousness. What fruit did you have then? Such deeds of which you yourself are now ashamed, because their end is death. But now that you have been freed from sin and become slaves of God, your fruit is holiness, and the end is eternal life (Rom. 6:16, 20-22).
And one last thing. Our school idea of slavery was formed almost exclusively on the historical material of ancient Rome, and when talking about the servants of God, this confuses us.
Image of the Apostle Paul in the Church of Saint Severin, Paris, France
In ancient Rome, slaves actually had absolutely no rights and were considered not so much people as animated tools of labor. But, for example, in ancient Israel slavery implied a much greater degree of freedom. In Israel's patriarchal society, slaves were actually members of the master's family. In the biblical understanding, a slave is by no means a living “household utensil”, but a faithful person, a servant of the owner of the house . It is the complete loyalty to the master and the equally complete responsibility of the master for his slaves that the Holy Scripture first of all points to. For example, the forefather Abraham had a slave Eliezer, and it was he who was considered the main heir of the master until his son Isaac was born (Gen. 15 : 2-3). The Law of Moses prescribed that slaves should be treated as kindly as possible:
If you buy a Hebrew slave, let him work for six years; and on the seventh let him be released freely. If he came alone, let him come out alone. And if he is married, let his wife also go out with him (Ex. 21:2-3).
It is to this biblical concept that the Christian understanding of our “slavery” to God goes back - otherwise the words of the Apostle Paul about Christ, who made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a slave, would sound very strange (Phil. 2:7).
Humbly calling themselves servants of God, Christians never forget about their high destiny - to be adopted by God. They just realize that there is still a long way to go before actual adoption occurs.
Slaves in the Kingdom of Heaven
Despite human sinfulness and the desire to take a dominant place in the universe, Christ once again shows his mercy and love for mankind, taking on the image of a servant, being at the same time the Son of the Lord God. It destroys our entrenched, erroneous stereotypes of greatness and power. Christ tells his disciples that the one who wants to be great will become a servant, and the one who wants to be first will be a slave. “For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
The word "slave" is used not in a metaphorical sense, but in a literal one
The word slave in Russian has three similar meanings. Let's quote Ozhegov's dictionary:
Meaning 1. In a slave society: a person deprived of all rights and means of production and who is the complete property of the owner who controls his work and life. Slave labor. Slave trade. Slave revolt.
Value 2 . peren, Dependent, oppressed person.
Value 3 . trans., someone. A person who has completely subordinated someone to something. yourself, your will, actions (book). R. passions. R. your habits. Turn a friend into a slave.
There are no “convenient” figurative meanings here that would allow us to say that the word slave has a metaphorical meaning. No, that’s right, there is God, there is His servant.
And you shouldn’t think at all that in ancient times the word slave had some other, softer meaning. A slave is someone who fulfills the will of someone or something else, serves someone alone, actually belongs to him. It is these harsh formulations that are applicable to our conversation.
The concept of “servant of God” implies devotion, but not weak-willedness
