WHAT MINDSET DO YOU HAVE, SON OR A HIRED SERVANT?

November 14, 2023

I kept encouraging her for a while to be stable in church. She was finding it hard. She would take trips at random times. She would rarely show up for midweek services. She would be married soon. I counselled her to get serious about the church as her home.

One afternoon, she came into my office and began to cry on her knees, “From today, sir, I just want you to know that you are my pastor. I did not accept that in my heart. The Lord corrected me this afternoon. I came to say I am sorry”. I was moved. I prayed for her. She settled and took her church home seriously.

That weekend, Irewamiri and I prayed for her and her husband-to-be during their counselling class. We asked for the favour of the Lord.

Some days later, we had a guest who came to church. He was about to relocate. She was in service. Long story short, he gave her a lot of household items, especially those needed in the kitchen. He was in the same city where she would be settling down. Favour found her at home.

Beloved, when you deal with strangers, you will beg, and your dignity will be soiled. Out of the major things about home is that your dignity is protected. At home, correction flows, but it is wrapped in love.

I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’

Luke 15:19 NIV

Like the lost son, there are two kinds of mindset that you can have at home (your local church):

The mindset of a hired servant: A hired servant is in it for pay and appreciation. You take spiritual tasks and church commitment with the mindset of “Are they paying me?” Your faithfulness fluctuates. You must be psyched and flattered to get any positive response from you.

The mindset of a son: In your home, when you are asked to do anything, your response can never be, “I am not in the workforce.” The day you were born in that house, you joined the workforce. It is only in a spiritual home that you hear those words, “I am not in the workforce”. Are you waiting to be hired? You are a son and not a hired servant.

Even if you are an instrumentalist in the church, you can choose the service of a hired servant or that of a son. If you are a pastor in a ministry, you can serve as a hired servant or as a son. You can be paid millions and still behave like a hired servant. Why? Money does not buy sons; it only upgrades hired servants.

Sons also serve but not like “they are for sale”.

But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.

Philippians 2:22 NIV

Settle first at home. Enjoy the bread at home. Be well fed. Grow. Resources you need will flow to you. Even when you are paid for what you do, your heart is not tied to the pay. Why? You get more by the blessing than you do by the service!