Natural human love expects something in return. But Paul is saying,
“It doesn’t really matter to me whether you love me or not. I am
willing to be completely destitute anyway; willing to be
poverty-stricken, not just for your sakes, but also that I may be able
to get you to God.” “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor . . .” (2 Corinthians 8:9).
And Paul’s idea of service was the same as our Lord’s. He did not care
how high the cost was to himself— he would gladly pay it. It was a
joyful thing to Paul.
The institutional church’s idea of a servant of God is not at all
like Jesus Christ’s idea. His idea is that we serve Him by being the
servants of others. Jesus Christ actually “out-socialized” the
socialists. He said that in His kingdom the greatest one would be the
servant of all (see Matthew 23:11).
The real test of a saint is not one’s willingness to preach the gospel,
but one’s willingness to do something like washing the disciples’ feet—
that is, being willing to do those things that seem unimportant in
human estimation but count as everything to God. It was Paul’s delight
to spend his life for God’s interests in other people, and he did not
care what it cost. But before we will serve, we stop to ponder our
personal and financial concerns— “What if God wants me to go over there?
And what about my salary? What is the climate like there? Who will take
care of me? A person must consider all these things.” All that is an
indication that we have reservations about serving God. But the apostle
Paul had no conditions or reservations. Paul focused his life on Jesus
Christ’s idea of a New Testament saint; that is, not one who merely
proclaims the gospel, but one who becomes broken bread and poured-out
wine in the hands of Jesus Christ for the sake of others.
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