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Editorial:
"Know Thyself"
Alwyn Thomson
Comment:
Illiberal Democracy
Alwyn Thomson
From
the Director: Good News People?
David W Porter
Balancing
on the Edge
Tony Davidson
Grateful
to God
David McMillan
Space
& Freedom
David Hewitt
Imaginative
Engagement
Keith Getty
No
longer at ease with this dispensation?
Mike Wardlow
Living
with our deepest differences
Os Guinness
Deep
Questions
Johnston
McMaster
Steady
presence
Cecelia Clegg
No
longer lonely
Joseph Liechty
Something
to give
Ingri Sakaria
Bible
study series: Faith in the future
David
W Porter
Review:
The Elusive Quest, Reconciliation in N I by Norman Porter
Bill
Brown
Review:
Journeying Towards Reconciliation, A Song for Ireland by Ruth Patterson
Lynda
Gould
Review:
Islam in Conflict:Past Present and Future by Peter G Riddell &
Peter Cotterell
Alwyn
Thomson
Review:
The R Option - Building Relationships as a Better Way of Life by
Michael Schluter & David John Lee
Anna
Rankin
Review:
Blue Diary by Alice Hoffman
Glenn
Jordan
Summer
School Poetry
Various
For
God and His Glory Alone:
Study 6: Truth
Is
42:1-4;
52:13-53:12
Zc
3:8-10
Mt
20:25-28
Mk
10:45
Lk
9:51-55
Jn
13:1-17
Rom
15:17f;
16:17f
1
Cor 9:19-23
2
Cor 4:5; 8:9
Phil
2:5 - 11
Study 7
SERVANTHOOD
"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant..."
At the heart of our understanding of Jesus is the concept and attitude of the servant. The community of His followers consists of those who serve, instead of rule, who suffer instead of inflict suffering; those whose fellowship crosses boundaries, instead of reinforcing them.
Living like this involves the setting aside of status and power, and the giving of ourselves in sacrificial love. The towel (which Jesus used in washing His disciples' feet) and not the sword, is our symbol of service. By loving in this way we take up our cross and follow Him.
To serve others is to desire to understand, with compassion, their anxieties and to place their needs before our own. We confess that often we have celebrated our cultural and political traditions, such as the anniversary of events both recent and ancient, in a triumphalistic manner. This is inconsistent with the mind of Christ, the Servant-King.
Our commitment to a particular political ideology may be for self-centred reasons, such as economic or social advantage; without consideration of the hurts, anxieties and needs of the rest of this divided society. Such a commitment would be a denial of the way of Christ.
Read John 13:1-17. Notice the basis for Jesus. confidence which enables Him to carry out a menial and demanding task in front of His disciples (v3 & 4). Is it true that we celebrate anniversaries in a "triumphalistic manner"? Is the inability to humble ourselves before others a sign that we lack the strength and security of Jesus? How can we learn to live like Him? Was Paul misguided in becoming "all things to all men", "a slave to everyone" for the sake of the gospel ( 1 Cor 9:19-23 )? If not, how ought we to follow his example (Phil 3:17)?
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