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Now, I’m going to give you some motivation for that pain in your neck. Here it is: go and serve them. Go and give your life for them. Helping others is at the heart of the gospel (Mark 10:45). The non-serving Christian is an oxymoron.
Think about Jesus and the kind of people that surrounded Him. Jesus came for the worst kind of people (Romans 3:10-12). He sought the badest, the worst, the lowest, and the helpless. He did not look for the righteous, the best, or the noblest.
An excellent question for you to ask is which group did you belong to when Jesus found you? If God saved you, it was the “worst group” because He did not come for righteous people (Luke 5:32).
Paul understood this concept well. He said that he was the foremost sinner (1 Timothy 1:15-16). In his mind, there was not a worse sinner than him. Then God grabbed him from the “heap of the depraved” and showed mercy to him. What about you? Has the Lord regenerated you?
If you have been born a second time (John 3:7), you are the recipient of the greatest act of undeserved love ever known to anyone. Jesus died for you; He became your suffering, dying, servant (John 3:16). You, who were undeserving, received the transformative love, affection, and life of another. Jesus became a slave to the regenerated.
Now, go back to that person with whom you struggle. Here is what I recommend in those times of frustration with them: Remind yourself that you were an enemy of God. I want you to consider the gospel (Romans 2:4). What did Christ do for you? Here is a short, non-exhaustive list:
As a result of His work, all this, plus more, is your inheritance. You were a person who did not deserve such mercy. You were an enemy of God whom He pursued. These truths are part of what it means to think in a gospel-centered way.
Because of the gospel, you have the extraordinary privilege of going and being Jesus to others, even that pain in your neck. May the power of the gospel control and manage you as you give yourself for others.
Rick, are you saying that I should submit to an abusive person?
The more vital question is, why would you think that you should? What has happened to you that you take an article like this and map your horrific experience over it to where you can’t think with clarity? If that is where you are tempted to go with this article, I appeal to you to find help.
This article is merely a take on all the “one anothers” in the New Testament. The Bible’s appeals are not harsh or unkind. God sets us free from our bondage. But if you’re not living in freedom because of what happened to you, please find someone who can help you.
The reason I’m saying these things is that, inevitably, whenever I wrote an article about serving and submitting to others, folks will misunderstand and make the message mean something that it should not. These folks have experienced so much hurt that it’s hard for them to think with biblical clarity.
Rick launched the Life Over Coffee global training network in 2008 to bring hope and help for you and others by creating resources that spark conversations for transformation. His primary responsibilities are resource creation and leadership development, which he does through speaking, writing, podcasting, and educating.
In 1990 he earned a BA in Theology and, in 1991, a BS in Education. In 1993, he received his ordination into Christian ministry, and in 2000 he graduated with an MA in Counseling from The Master’s University. In 2006 he was recognized as a Fellow of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC).