Candidate for Unworthy Servant

"So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'" (Luke 17:10, NIV)

Many years ago I was preaching at a Missions Conference in Mogi das Cruzes, in the state of São Paulo, where Pr. Edison Queiroz — a man with vast ministerial and missionary experience — was also speaking. If I already get nervous before preaching no matter which church I'm in, that day the nerves were even worse.

Hearing this man of God truly impacted me. From the very first moment, what stood out most about his life wasn't any kind of personal display, but his simplicity and humility. The first thing he did after taking the microphone was to make that clear. He told a story about an experience he'd had at a certain church. The pastor of that church said it was hard to introduce Pr. Edison Queiroz, given all his experience and well-earned credentials. So the pastor asked what title Pr. Edison Queiroz would prefer to be introduced by. He thought for a few seconds and said: "I know exactly what title I'd like to be called. CANDIDATE FOR UNWORTHY SERVANT!"

Referring to Luke 17:10, which says that after we've done everything we were commanded to do, we should consider ourselves unworthy servants, since we've only done our duty, he concluded by saying that, since he hadn't yet done everything he'd been commanded, he was still only a candidate for "unworthy servant." This truly noble attitude should be imitated by other followers of Christ, since Pr. Edison Queiroz, in acting this way, is simply following the example of Jesus (Phil 2), our supreme model and example. But sadly, this isn't the kind of attitude we see much of these days.

The Bible passage above isn't referring to a servant who doesn't want to do anything for his Lord — quite the opposite, it speaks of a faithful servant who recognizes that, even after doing everything he was commanded, he has only done his duty. So if someone prayed 24 hours a day (if that were even possible), they shouldn't boast about it, since they would only be doing what was commanded ("pray continually" — 1 Thess 5:17). Likewise, if someone preached 24 hours a day, they wouldn't be doing more than their duty ("preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season" — 2 Tim 4:2). So why do some people display "their achievements" with such pride, when they haven't even come close to fulfilling everything we were commanded to do?

I've seen some "famous preachers" go to the extreme of saying we should have credit left over with God — in other words, denying GRACE, they claim that when we do something for God, it's as if God then owes us a favor in return. What tremendous heresy! We should banish these mercenaries of the faith from our pulpits!

God never owes anyone anything. On the contrary, he paid our debt (Col 2:14). And there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that makes us deserving of salvation or of any other blessing from God. Everything we receive from God is by his GRACE (unmerited favor). The Bible shows us very clearly that we deserve nothing, yet our good God still grants us his blessings, through the merits of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.

Many people, and even leaders, want to be revered for the titles they display. Rarely — or better, almost never — do leaders call themselves servants, let alone unworthy servants or candidates for "unworthy servant." Our society, very much unlike our good God, tends to measure people by what they have or what they do, while God measures us by who we are. God doesn't measure us by the outward (what we have or do), but by the inward (who we truly are).

If we're used by God in some specific ministry, we shouldn't display any pride at all. After all, we did nothing to deserve salvation, and everything we receive from God is by his GRACE (unmerited favor). It's God who gives us the strength, the vigor, the inspiration, and the grace to do anything at all in his work. To him alone be the glory for everything! We haven't even come close to being able to say we've done everything we were commanded. I too consider myself just another candidate for "unworthy servant."

We must keep on doing everything we've been commanded, always with a heart grateful to God, who gives us his grace to carry out his work. Even though we are not worthy, he makes us participants in his work in this world. What a tremendous privilege!