Attributes of the Server

Week Three __________________Attributes of the Server


Gift of SERVICE – MINISTERING
Greek word – Diakonia (dee-ak-on-ee'-ah)
service, ministering, esp. of those who execute the commands of others
of those who by the command of God proclaim and promote religion among men
of the office of Moses
of the office of the apostles and its administration
of the office of prophets, evangelists, elders etc.
the ministration of those who render to others the offices of Christian affection esp. those who help meet need by either collecting or distributing of charities
the office of the deacon in the church
the service of those who prepare and present food


Scriptural example of person with this gift is Timothy. (Phil 2 and II Tim 4)

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GIFT OF SERVICE

PERSPECTIVE…
How many stressed-out mothers does it take to screw in a light bulb?

One. ONE!! And do you know WHY it only takes ONE? Because no one
else in this house knows HOW to change a light bulb. They don't even know the bulb is BURNED OUT. They would sit in this house in the dark for THREE DAYS before they figured it OUT. And once they figured it out they wouldn't be able to find the light bulbs despite the fact that they've been in the SAME CUPBOARD for the past SEVENTEEN YEARS. But if they did, by some miracle, find the light bulbs, TWO DAYS LATER the chair that they dragged from two rooms over to stand on to change the STUPID light bulb would STILL BE IN THE SAME SPOT!!!!! AND UNDERNEATH IT WOULD BE THE CRUMPLED WRAPPER THE STUPID LIGHT BULBS CAME IN. WHY??? BECAUSE NO ONE IN THIS HOUSE EVER CARRIES OUT THE GARBAGE!!!! IT'S A WONDER WE HAVEN'T ALL SUFFOCATED FROM THE PILES OF GARBAGE THAT ARE 12 FEET DEEP THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE HOUSE. THE HOUSE!! THE HOUSE!!! IT WOULD TAKE AN ARMY TO CLEAN THIS.

That's how many.

An entire group in Scripture that was commissioned to be servers was the Levites, sons of Aaron.
1. Easily recognizes practical needs and is quick to meet them.

Numbers 3: 5 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 6 "Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. 7 And they shall attend to his needs and the needs of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of meeting, to do the work of the tabernacle. 8 Also they shall attend to all the furnishings of the tabernacle of meeting, and to the needs of the children of Israel, to do the work of the tabernacle. 9 And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are given entirely to him from among the children of Israel. 10 So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall attend to their priesthood; but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death." 11 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 12 "Now behold, I Myself have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be Mine, 13 because all the firstborn are Mine. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They shall be Mine: I am the LORD."
2. Especially enjoys manual projects, jobs and functions.
3. Keeps everything in meticulous order.
Women with this gift have immaculate houses. Whether they feel like it or not, before they go to bed (general rule) the house will be ready for company.
Men with this gift keep their closets in order, drawers in order, clean desk, neat files, and dirty clothes make it to the hamper, not beside it (general rule).
4. Is a detail person with a good memory. A server has a computer type memory for details


_______________________________Day Two
5. Enjoys showing hospitality. Luke 10:38-42 It is likely the servers who are the ones to open their homes to visiting missionaries, lay teams, revival teams etc. They love company.


6. Will stay with something until it is completed. They may become frustrated if not given enough time to complete a project. When given a project, they will handle all aspects of it even down to the tiniest detail before the deadline arrives.


7. Has a hard time saying no to requests for help.
Helpers are very good at helping. They will be the ones to clear off tables, put away chairs, reset the arrangement for the next use of the facility. They will also volunteer for projects by showing up to help or saying “yes” to whatever project comes their way. The rest of the church automatically go to the servers because they know the Server will get the job done without problems. They can be counted on and this is a quality that is coveted in church work.


8. Is more interested in meeting the needs of others than their own needs and/or family’s needs.
Because they have a hard time saying “no”, they will often set aside their own needs in order to finish all the projects on their plate.


Never = 0
Seldom = 1
Sometimes = 2
Usually = 3
Mostly = 4
Always = 5
Total _______________


Use the scoring system to score yourself on the Server Gift for each Bold statement.


Remember what Jethro told Moses—“Why are you doing all this by yourself? Appoint elders to help you.” 


Moses is the Biblical exception to this calling. Moses motivational Spiritual Gift was Server. We know this because he was overwhelmed with the thought of confronting Pharaoh. We also know that he put up a really good fight with lots of reasons why he shouldn't be God's emissary.  However, God called him to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. We know this because of several things.
1. When God said “Go.” Moses replied (Ex 3:11) “Who am I to bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” What was he actually saying here? “I don’t have the authority or the ability to do this huge job. Moses kept questioning God to the point of exasperating Him and Moses wasn’t satisfied until God provided Aaron who evidently had a speaking gift to be the mouth piece. 


If Moses had the motivational gift of Administration, he would have been excited about leading more than 1 million people out of Egypt. He would have seen the big picture better than he did. He would not have felt frustration with the monumental task of convincing Pharoh to let the people go then organizing the people, making the lists for the food packs etc. All that would have been “right up his alley” if he had the motivational gift of administration. We can see quite plainly it was not. It was overwhelming to him.


2. He pointed out to God that he did not have the gift of speaking. Exodus 4:10. His motivational Spiritual Gift was working with his hands not speaking or teaching with his mouth. This was overwhelming to him as well.


3. The people did not recognize any “natural leadership” qualities in him. They constantly complained and grumbled. An administrator with charismatic qualities or even a perceiver with tremendous persuasive qualities would have had the whole hearted allegiance of the people.


One huge question is why didn't God appoint an administrator or a perceiver? Because God wanted the people to depend solely upon Him and to look to Him for guidance. He did not want the people substituting a human in His place. An Administrator would have “scoped/scouted” the land ahead and lead the people to the promised land in 15 days (the amount of time it would have taken all the people to walk there from Egypt. That would have been too quick for them. God wanted to get the people’s focus on to the important things and to let go of all the Egypt things. Of course all the ungodly things of that pagan culture had permeated the Israelites with idol worship to the type of food they ate, how they cooked their food.


God wanted them focused on everything that was good and healthy. They had to change their lifestyles; change how they cooked their food; change how they dressed; how and what they taught their children. This was the largest “group therapy” ever known to mankind. It was also the largest religion class ever taught.


God appointed a server—Moses—to do this overwhelming job so that His appointed leader would look to and depend upon God alone and not upon his own strength, understanding and ability. This Great Escape was also titled “Great Lessons in How to Live a Godly Life and Let Go of Ungodly Ways.” If only the Israelites had paid attention in class.


4. Moses tried to do everything by himself. Exodus 18. Moses was very close to JOB BURN OUT. The people were wearing him out with their petty squabbles to the point he could not pay attention to the truly grievous things that were wrong. Sometimes servers have that same kind of tunnel vision. These folks focus on “getting the job done” and the logistics—a military term defined by handling the details—to the point that the intent of the ministry is forgotten.


God anointed Moses with the skills and motivation necessary to do His will when Moses paid attention to and was guided by God. God gave him an anointing to be able to do the job God called him to do. God will also give you an anointing to do whatever He calls you to do, therefore do not use your motivational Spiritual Gift as an excuse to not do something God has called you to do. By the same token, do not use your motivational Gift to DO something that God has NOT called you to do.


Tomorrow, we'll do the Bible study for questions 5-8 in Luke 10:38-40




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