to the master. This was usually symbolized by the master plunging a metal punch through the ear of the servant where an earring (similar to that of a slave) would be placed (see Deuteronomy 15:17). Today we call that “tenure” and “being fully vested.” This form of servanthood is the same form referenced 136 times in the New Testament with the exception of only three verses that strongly differentiate themselves by the addition of the word “hired,” as we see in Mark 1:20, Luke 15:17, Luke 15:19.
If we were to be honest, most of us would acknowledge we are servants. We are not slaves, not laborers, and certainly not masters. The sad thing is, unlike in Biblical times where servants became servants out of desperation, today we enter a similar arrangement not only voluntarily but by choice. To make matters worse, we teach our children to do the same thing.
A Servant’s Life
As a laborer you have a customer to whom you provide a service, but you are free to control your time, mind, and money. However, being a servant is to be void of self and to have one’s will replaced by the will of one who is in authority over you. This can be good when it is acts of kindness such as serving the Lord, or having a servant’s heart, but the meaning is still present. God wants us to be laborers and masters, but does He want us to be servants?
Matthew 6:24 says: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
Until the last sentence of that verse, we could make the argument that He is talking about Himself versus other gods (HaSatan, Jupiter, Easter/Ishtar, Ba’al, etc.), but then He says, “Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (money/wealth).
We have already discussed in this book how you are working for the money, how you are sacrifcing time with God and family for money’s sake, and now we just discovered you are most likely and voluntarily placing yourself in the position of a servant to your employer.
Scream, cry, puff your chest all you want. In your heart you know I’m right that many of us are guilty of this voluntary submission, which is why billions of faithful are facing the problems tied to money that we see. If I were wrong, we wouldn’t be seeing the problems we are witnessing. As painful as that may be, it is true. Employment (servanthood) is not the way to dig your way out of debt. Being a laborer or master (entrepreneur, especially an Evangelpreneur) is.
Now, you may be thinking, “Josh, voluntary servitude has been around forever.” The truth is, that is not actually the case, at least not to the scale in which we see it today. As a matter of fact, before the Industrial Revolution in the late 1800s, and more accurately, until inventions like mass electricity and the automated assembly lines, most people, with the exception of slaves and indentured servants, were entrepreneurs, laborers, or apprentices.
Apprentice? What is that? Today when we hear the word “apprentice,” generally one of three images comes to mind: (a) the young boy helping out in Paul Revere’s silversmith shop back in 1776, (b) a student Jedi from a Star Wars movie, or (c) Donald Trump.
We will cover the role of an apprenticeship in our lives in the discussion of “saving the gravy” in chapter eighteen, but to define it, an apprentice was someone, usually younger than you, that you would take under your wing and instruct in your craft. An apprentice is not the same thing as an employee, for the purpose is for the apprentice to one day venture off on their own. An apprentice is also not a disciple, for a disciple is someone who puts himself in a position to learn how to live life entirely in a way taught to him or her by his mentor. Prayer, travel, food, God, interacting with others—all things pertaining to life are taught to a disciple. Just like an apprentice, slave, master, and servant, the modern Church has distorted the definition of “disciple” to mean a convert. Someone who “gets saved” and comes to Bible study is not a disciple. That, however, may need to be the subject matter of a whole other book.
Are You Unequally Yoked?
One final thing about who controls you and your life. We hear all the time about being unequally yoked when it comes to marriage. Sometimes we even hear about it when it comes to political actions and alliances. What about when it comes to employment?
“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” —2 Corinthians 6:14
When you place yourself in a position of voluntary servitude—employment—you and your efforts are yoked to your employer. If your boss uses his money to buy hookers in Mexico, you empowered that. If your boss runs drugs out of the office, you empowered that (and may even be legally responsible). If your boss gives profits you helped create to abortion clinics, you empowered that.
No, you do not make those decisions, and ultimately the consequences fall on your boss, but your hard work is empowering the employer to which you have voluntarily yoked yourself. The case could be made that this is true of laborers too, because their efforts affect the one paying them and vice versa; however, as a laborer there is more freedom to choose and control the circumstances as well as terminate them with the freedom to pursue more beneficial agreements elsewhere. Whereas a servant, because of debt, bills, or limited ability has far less opportunity to unyoke themselves from their master/ employer.
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