You may remember the scene from the classic film Ben-Hur, when the title character was chained as a slave in the belly of a Roman war ship. His task was to man one of the long oars of the ship, along with other slaves, and to operate that oar in harmony with the other oars in the vessel. This was, of course, not a job anyone would seek. It was not a position to be coveted. It is hard to imagine anyone elevating one under-rower over another. Paul says you are to account us (Christ's ministers and apostles) merely as "servants of Christ." The Greek word translated "servants" here is huperetes, which means, literally, under-rowers. Instead of thinking of us more highly than you ought, and forming various camps, "I'm of Paul, I'm of Apollos," consider us as "under-rowers" (menial laborers) and "stewards," of the mysteries of God. A steward was generally a slave who was appointed as a manager. His authority was only a delegated authority. This passage 1) reminds us not to judge one another. 2) reminds us of the utter foolishness of human pride 3) reminds us that even those of the highest rank in Christ's church (apostles) were only servants. 4) makes a mockery of the lavish lifestyles of some ministers 5) should help to keep us from the self-pity that often follows severe trials 6)reminds us that we will each give an account of himself before God 7)affirms that the faithful servant will actually be praised by God! The flock at Liberty seemed to respond well to this exposition of God's Word.
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Born and raised in Baltimore MD, then moving to Florida in his youth, Russ came to faith in Christ as a third year college student through the testimony of his brother Doug. Russ transferred from the University of Florida to Shelton College which is affiliated with the Bible...
