Not to Be Served

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Fellowship – Snacks or a Meal (10 minutes with snacks; longer, obviously, if there is a meal).

Gathering Time (5-10 minutes). In pairs or groups of three, have participants answer, “What are characteristics you associate with someone in the role of ‘servant’?”

Group Dialogue (Approximately 30 minutes). Read Mark 10:35-45.

• Who is asking to sit at the right and left of Jesus in glory? [James and John, the sons of Zebedee, initiate this conversation with Jesus. (Mark 10:35)]
• What role does Jesus tell the disciples they must take as they follow him? [Jesus tells the disciples they must be servants just as the “Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:35).]
• While sometimes there are variations in translations of the text, there is consistency in this passage with the words “service” and “servant” as the terms Jesus gives to the disciples amid their discussion of what it means to follow him. Why do you think this word is significant for Jesus as he compares “servants” to the high-ranking officials of the secular Roman world?
• The Preaching Note for October 20 says, “I do not want to entertain the idea that I might share some similarities with James and John. None of us wants to admit that we, too, might be seeking notoriety and power, especially with such bald ambition. Yet, there is something entirely understandable about this episode in our walk with Jesus that, despite my resistance, I can’t help but feel for them. And it seems that Jesus does too.”
  • Where can we go wrong with ambition? How can we seek to be real servants and not be blinded by paths to notoriety and power?
• Jesus says to his disciples about authority and power: “But it is not so among you; instead, whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant” (Mark 10:43).
  • How does being a servant in our church today look to you? How can your church seek to serve the community in which you live? What veils of power and prestige do you need to release to reach out with the gospel?

Prayer (10 minutes). Share prayer requests and respond appropriately.

Sending Forth (2 minutes). End with the following prayer, a similar prayer, or the Lord’s Prayer:

Servant God, there are so many ways You have given us new life. By the power of the cross, we have received the greatest love and gift we could ever receive. Forgive us for all the times we seek power and glory instead of living as faithful disciples and servants. May Your Spirit create in us hearts made to serve You and those around us. Amen.

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Rev. Dr. Hunter Pugh, an elder in the Alabama-West Florida Conference, serves a charge in Brantley, Alabama. He has served the local church for ten years. Rev. Pugh is also an adjunct professor of religion at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama. He loves the outdoors and traveling, as he sees God’s creation and the beauty of the diversity in people the Lord has made.