Church Is Not About You!
A series on the “one another’s”
Part 7 – Serve one another
Galatians 5:13
I. Introduction
-The following are actual responses from comment cards given to the staff members at Bridger Wilderness Area in the
Trails need to be wider so people can walk while holding hands
Trails need to be reconstructed. Please avoid building trails that go uphill.
Too many bugs and leeches and spiders and spider webs. Please spray the wilderness to rid the area of these pests.
Please pave the trails so they can be snow-plowed during the winter.
Chair lifts need to be in some places so that we can get to wonderful views without having to hike them.
The coyotes made too much noise last night and kept me awake. Please eradicate these annoying animals.
A small deer came into my camp and stole my jar of pickles. Is there a way I can get reimbursed? Please call…
Reflectors need to be placed on trees every 50 feet so people can hike at night with flashlights.
Escalators would help on steep uphill sections.
A McDonalds would be nice at the trailhead.
The places where trails do not exist are not well marked.
Too many rocks in the mountains
-What do all these responses have in common? Selfish!
-This is the trait that should separate Christians from the world. Look at what our text says…SERVE one another in love.
II. Setting the table
-Our text says…Gal 5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
-What is he talking about in regards to being free? What is the freedom that Paul is speaking of?
-From the bondage of sin, and from the unachievable righteousness that, in their minds, comes by keeping the law.
-I want to take a minute and talk about this freedom. How many of you have heard the phrase “Christian liberty?” I hear statements like this, “My Christian liberty allows me to do ___________.”
-Some of the things that I have heard this phrased used about are: “My Christian liberty allows me to watch movies that have nudity and/or swearing in them because that stuff doesn’t affect me. Or, “My Christian liberty allows me to have an inappropriate relationship with my boyfriend or girlfriend because we know that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
-The major problem with any of these statements, and you can fill in the blank with whatever you want, is that they are all based on man’s feelings; what makes him feel good, what doesn’t bother her; what they want to do.
-This passage tells us that our freedom is from the bondage of sin, it is freedom NOT to sin. So, it’s not the freedom to do something, but rather the freedom NOT to do something!
-Freedom in Christ is not our right to sin, but our right to abstain from it.
-So, we are not to use our freedom to indulge the sinful nature, then what are we to use it for? I praise the Lord that He didn’t stop there, He goes on to inspire Paul to tell us to use our freedom to serve one another in love.
III. Serve one another
-Now here’s a conundrum for you…
-The Greek word translated serve literally means slave!
-The text is saying “use your freedom to be slaves”
-This is one of the great paradoxical statements in the Bible. “Use your freedom to be a servant”
-This slavery that Paul is calling them into is completely different from the bondage that they were in before. In fact, this is the Christian form of freedom.
-The bondage or slavery that they were in before was enslaving. When you are enslaved to something you don’t have any choice but to do what your master tells you to do. As non-Christians we were all slaves to sin (Romans 6) and had not choice but to obey it.
-You might say that you know some “good people” who are non-Christians. That is probably true, however, we have to remember that according to 1 Corinthians 13 anything not done in love is sin. Also, Isaiah says that the unsaved person’s “acts of righteousness” are like filthy rags.
-The slavery to sin is involuntary and terrible; Man is born into sin (Psalm 51:5) and cannot escape from it (Romans 7:18).
-The slavery to the law, came by choice, and is foolish and burdensome (Gal. 3:1-3)
-On the other hand, the slavery to one another is voluntary, not burdensome (1 John 5:3) and produces great joy.
-Here’s what separates the Christians from the world…our ability to serve one another IN LOVE. Through the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit, Christians are freed from the bondage of service to sin and able to serve others.
IV. The two types of service:
-There are two types of service that I came up with and would like to look at this morning.
-The first one is: Serving one another selfishly
-Man was created a relational character. We are destined to have and live in relationships with others. The Lord bore witness to this fact when He said “Then the LORD God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.’” (Genesis 2:18)
-When sin entered the human race through Adam, man’s need for relationships did not cease, but it became terrible distorted.
-First of all, man became selfish by nature. Look at the initial fall of man in the Garden of Eden. What convinced Eve to eat the fruit?
Genesis 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
-Selfishness puts you in bondage to yourself. It also puts others in
bondage to your selfishness. You’re in
bondage to them, and they are in bondage
to you.
-You are dependent on them to meet your needs and they are dependent on you to meet their needs.
-You can see that there really is no such thing as true freedom. Even non-Christians are serving one another, just not out of love.
-What does it look like to selfishly serve one another. Take a look with me at the acts of the sinful nature listed in Galatians 5: 19-21.
Galatians 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, (20) idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, (21) envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the
-Note that these acts are all in the context of human relationships!
-Until recent years, these acts were not so glaring. Not that they weren’t there, just that man has always had a way of hiding his true nature. But in our accepting culture, there is no reason to hide these things anymore. (They say the world is getting better!)
-Most politicians are publicly guilty of the acts of the sinful nature.
-The second one is: Serving one another in love
-We have established that all people must serve one another in order to survive, and though all of us have a sinful nature, there is a way to serve one another that will liberate us and set us free. This way can create very satisfying and lasting relationships. It is the way of love.
-By means of faith in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, we are set free from the domination of our sinful natures. Rather, than HAVING to serve one another selfishly, we GET to serve one another in love.
-The acts of love are just as obvious as the acts of selfishness.
-We are sensitive to the acts of selfishness, and the world is sensitive to the acts of love.
-What does it look like to serve one another in love? Take a look with me at the fruits of the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-26 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (24) And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (25) If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. (26) Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
-Note, that just like the acts of the sinful nature are relational, so too are the fruits of the Spirit.
-When we serve one another in love, there are, of course, expressions of love. There are also expressions of joy. There is a peace—that is, true unity and oneness in the body of Christ. There is patience with one another. There is kindess, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
-These are a picture of what it looks like when we serve one another, not out of selfishness, but out of love.
-A true Christian expression of love is initiated by the lover, not the lovee.
John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
-Not that he waited for his friends to ask him to do it, but that he just did it.
Romans 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
-This is one of my favorite verses in all of the Bible because it shows us that God is proactive not reactive. You’ve probably heard me use that phrase before, but I want you to think about that. God only acts, never reacts. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us!
1 John 3:16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
-We didn’t ask Him to, He did it because he loved us.
V. Conclusion
-In summation then, we must conclude that freedom in Christ does not give a Christian a right to sin, nor does it eliminate his sinful nature. Neither is man free from relational responsibilities. In fact, our responsibility is heightened, because we are now members of the family of God.
As a member of that family, with all of its rights and privileges, a Christian is to be a servant to all other members of that family. In fact, we are all to be servants of one another. And in “serving one another in love” we demonstrate the fruits of the Spirit and find true freedom in Jesus Christ. Our deepest needs are met in legitimate ways. We are not used by others. We are not put on a performance standard. Our relationships with others can be truly satisfying and enduring. This is true freedom!
-Ask yourself this question; what have I done to lovingly serve so and so as an individual? Don’t settle for teaching or leading worship or things that you do corporately as serving each person individually. Find a way to serve each other in love…individually. Take the initiative and just do it!
