We all long to be used by God to transform our societies. Christ has shown us the way that this can happen–he modelled it for us. It is the way of love expressed through sacrificial service.
We passionately desire to prepare you to walk in this way–to make your life count for the healing and blessing of your culture, and that is why we developed an essential training manual: Servanthood: The Vocation of Every Christian.
If you haven’t done so already, I encourage you to review this study today and consider using it personally or in your church or ministry. It is available as a free downloadable PDF from the Disciple Nations Alliance website (click here). To download, you will need to set up an account on the DNA website.
We are offering it at a special introductory price of $9.00 for orders taken before March 31. After that time, it will be available for the regular list price of $11.00. You can order from our secure online store.
To understand our desire in developing this study, here’s an exerpt from the Introduction, written by Darrow Miller:
The Church in the West has often been neutralized by the world’s agenda and value system. We look for self-fulfillment, not realizing the power of Christ’s words that we must die to live and give to gain. Instead, the good life—the life of comfort and personal peace—is our goal. We mimic, rather than challenge the world. Because the end of this pursuit is shallow and unsatisfying, we race on, hoping that if we move faster, happiness will come.
In contrast to our natural tendency to self-serve, God has called us to “other-serve.” The authority given to Christ in Matthew 28:18, which He has in turn passed on to his disciples, is the authority to serve (2 Cor. 10:8). The early church understood this and left us a legacy of service as she built inns for travelers, hospitals for the sick, almshouses for the poor and orphanages for the fatherless. Our service stands as a dynamic testimony that we believe the biblical message is true.
In other words, the fulfillment we long for will never be found in the world’s agenda but only in Christ’s plans. In Luke 19:12-27, Jesus tells the parable of a nobleman (who represents Jesus Himself) who has gone to a far country to receive his kingdom. He gives his faithful servants authority over cities in that land, commanding them, in the wording of the King James Version, to”occupy” it until he comes. This is the Church’s mission–“to occupy the land” for the coming King. We are to be God’s people. Dr. Tetsunao Yamamori, former President of Food for the Hungry, has expressed that we are to be involved in “Symbiotic Ministry”–that is, proclaiming the Good News of God’s salvation in Jesus Christ (evangelism) and liberating men in social, political and economic shackles in order to establish peace, order and harmony in all human relationships (social action).
The key to this “occupation” is you. As the parable in Luke teaches, God has given life, talents, abilities and gifts to you; and He wants you to use them. Your life makes a difference! It is wonderful; it is grand. Francis Schaeffer was fond of saying, “Like a pebble thrown into a still pond, your life makes ripples that continue…forever.”
Christ will return, just as surely as He rose from the dead. As Luke 19:12 describes, He is in Heaven now, receiving His Kingdom. We, His servants, have been given our task of occupying the land for His return. Each place that you stand as a Christian becomes occupied territory. When you stand and occupy territory, you create a place for others to stand with you.
This series of Bible studies is a rallying cry for the Church to awaken and to fulfill her mission.
Originally, I wrote this series to encourage a group of Christian high school students from Ohio as they prepared to spend two weeks on a work project in the Dominican Republic. I remembered that a similar experience had shaken me from my slumber. As a nineteen-year-old college student, I traveled with ten students, a pastor and his wife to Mexico City, where we lived and worked at an orphanage for six weeks. We were fed on $1.25 per week–we ate the same food that the orphans ate. This period of short-term missions altered the entire course of my life. Of the thirteen that went that summer, eight of us have become more extensively involved in missions.
I desired a vision-expanding, life-changing encounter for the Ohio work team; and that is my prayer, also, for all of you who participate in this study. My hope is that it will not merely be a Bible study but a celebration of our high calling; not merely more information, but a trumpet call to action. As we await the King, let’s make the most of our time. Let’s hasten His coming by serving Him well.
The purpose of this series is:
- To help you understand that the mission of the Church is to occupy this world for Christ.
- To encourage you to see that you are the key; your life counts.
- To guide you in fulfilling your vocational calling–that of being a servant.
Table of Contents:
1. The Ambition of Man
2. Examples of Service
3. The Servant-King
4. Motivation for Service
5. The Context of Service
6. The Servant’s Liberty
7. The Servant’s Suffering
8. The Attitude of the Servant
9. The Conduct of the Servant
10. The Persons We Serve
11. The Work of the Servant
12. When Do We Serve?
13. The Commitment of the Servant
Appendix- Personal Application