2. Servanthood is the Key to Authority.

If you want influence and authority, then be like Jesus, be the servant of all. Go with me to Luke 19:16-17. Here, the master gave authority to the servant over ten cities for his job well done. Where is the authority over? It is not just over your family, your children or over a shop, it is over ten cities. Note here it is said, “well done, good servant” and not “well done, great CEO, Pastor, Reverend” and so forth as I have mentioned earlier. The first servant was awarded ten cities or ten nations. This is what it is all about. When you served, you are guaranteed authority.

Example of two doctors:

Let me share with you an example of a man who is humble in nature despite of his great wealth and power. In Indonesia, he is one of the top doctors and wealthy. He, at the age of 22, he has already graduated as a medical doctor in Germany as a General Practitioner at the Saarland University (Saarland, Germany). By 1973, he obtained his PhD and worked at the Royal Free Hospital in London, UK. By 1982, he was an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. But by the late 1980s, He was recalled back to Indonesia to be the personal doctor for the late President Suharto, his cabinet ministers and all the top generals in Indonesia. By then, he was seeing 150 patients a day, making him one of the richest doctors in the whole of Indonesia and then he got saved and became a Christian.

He was so on fire for God that he joined one of the local churches. Although he was a very busy doctor, he did not fail to go to church every week. He was in Rev. Dr. Niko Njotorahardjo’s church, GBI Jl. Gatot Subroto in Jakarta. He wants to serve and he started as an usher in the church. He ushered for 10 years, every week. He is a top doctor in the whole of Indonesia and yet he was willing to usher faithfully every week. How many top and rich guys like This Godly Man will be willing to lower themselves and do ushering every week? Many of us let our little success and riches get to our head sometimes and think others should be serving us and not the other way round. Some even wants to be make leader in the church first if you want them to serve in the church.

He became a Cell Group Leader later. He was so hungry for God that he was in church every week just soaking in the presence of God. After serving for 10 years as an usher, his pastor sent him out to plant a new church in a new town. He didn’t throw his weight around for being a top doctor and sent to set up a church. Today the church has 4000 members. He also planted 6 other branch churches. Every Sunday morning, he does his round at 4.30 am in the hospital because he got to preach at 7.30 am. This man is a humble man despite of his authority and wealth. No wonder God is prospering and blessing him. Can you see authority comes through Servanthood?!
Today He has the highest respect of all the people and in all the government. At the funeral of former President Suharto, he was the only outsider invited to attend the private funeral with the family members. He was given authority in the land, not because of his wealth and talents but because he humbled himself to serve.
 
I want to share with you the great works of another doctor. On 24 December 2006, when the tsunami and earthquake hit Aceh, no one realised how great was the disaster until the news were broadcasted worldwide. The damages were making it difficult for helps to be sent in and out of the land. One of the churches in Singapore, asked their affiliated church in Medan, Indonesia, on the conditions in Aceh. The Senior Pastor of the church in Medan asked his spiritual leader in Singapore to send medical help as people were dying. This was a great rescue magnitude works that the church in Singapore has never done before. But there is one thing for sure. People were dying unless help was sent fast. So, He contacted one of the members in his congregation, who is a doctor. At that time, this doctor just started his own practice. He has the right to reject the request for help as he has a new practice/a new business to attend to and bills to meet. But he didn’t. He was a servant. He dropped everything in Singapore and flew to Aceh in the next plane available.

Now, He was the first foreign doctor to step into Aceh with his team. He treated the victims and operated on them for three days and nights without any rest. Using bare medical facilities and treatment, he was saving whoever he could. He did not have any experience in Tsunamis rescue but how many of us know that if there is a will, God will provide the ways. So he set up medical bases that became the model for all other medical teams that came in. For the next three months, Doctor Francis and his team treated 22,621 victims and performed 2,227 surgeries on the victims of tsunamis.

But being in Aceh, He would have lost lots of business and money. And he did loose thousands of dollars in his newly setup practice being away for a long period of time. The Bible says that those who lend to the Lord, He will repay and God is a good pay master. He came back from Aceh and his business started to prosper. Today, he entered into a season of wealth prosperity. He is a servant. Despite his busy schedule, he gives bible-studies four times a week. He goes regularly for mission trips. If this doctor can be a very busy man and yet he can find time to serve, you and I can follow his example to serve God and one another.

In the part 4, we will look at ‘Servanthood is the Key to Destiny’.