Whenever you read that word “servant” in the New Testament, you need to remember what it really means. Strictly speaking, in ancient times they did not have servants—at least not in the sense that we have in mind when we use that word. Rather, what they had were slaves. So when you read in the New Testament about somebody being a servant, generally that word translates the Greek word for slave, which is doulos. Thus, this is what we would expect Paul to be saying here. He considers himself as a slave of Christ.
However, in fact, this is not the word Paul uses; it is a word that is even stronger than that. The Greek word is hyperetas. It does not occur in the Greek New Testament very often. It can have the idea of an “under-slave,” that is, of the assistant slave rather than the slave who is in charge of other slaves. And if you study to see how the word was used before the New Testament was written, you will discover that it was used to refer to the under-rowers of the galley ships. The large ones had three rows of oars, and I imagine that an under-rower was one who operated on the lowest tier.
All this would then mean that Paul is not merely saying that he is a servant of Jesus Christ, or even a slave. What he is really saying is that he is an under-rower in the galley of Christ that is bringing men the Gospel of life. While Paul speaks of himself as a minister, who is therefore responsible to Christ, nevertheless, at the same time he is not giving himself some exalted position among the other servants of Christ.
The next word he uses is not quite as colorful, but it does convey a wealth of meaning of its own. We read in verse 1 of “those entrusted,” which refers to the work of a steward. The steward was the one who managed the household economy, that is, he took care of the business for whoever owned the house. While this word does not come across to us as vividly as an “under-rower,” it does speak perhaps in a little more dramatic way of the kind of responsibility that Paul had. He had this responsibility of management, managing for Jesus Christ as a steward who had to give an accounting to Him who was his Master.
When I look at these verses that talk about the ministry, I find that Paul really is writing about it much the way we would write about a position in a corporation today. If you are talking about a position in a corporation, one talks first of all about a job description. Then you talk about performance standards, and finally a system of accountability. When you take those three basic things and apply them to ministry, you can see what Paul is saying. The job description is that of an under-rower and a steward. The performance standards are seen in verse 2: “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” And when you consider accountability, it is Jesus Christ. He is the boss of the corporation. Paul correctly maintains that he is accountable to Him.
Isn’t it interesting that he says that the performance standard is faithfulness? That is not the way we would write performance standards. We would say something like, “Well, you’ve been marketing this product for the year, and you’ve sold five million dollars’ worth. Next year, we want to improve that by fifteen percent.” And if you meet that standard, well then, they raise it next year. We think in those terms of quantity, or volume.
In the Christian life, it is not quite the same thing. That is not to say that God is not interested in numbers, but when He gives you a job to do as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, He does not say, “You have to have thirty-three conversions this month.” Now it may be that by His grace, you will be effective along those lines. And it may be that if you are only seeing thirty-three, you are not being very faithful because He has given you gifts and opportunities where you could see much more. But it is not spelled out in numerical terms for us. Paul says that it is required that we be found faithful. That means if you have to hang in there year after year and decade after decade and see very little results from your labor, you are not a failure in the service of Jesus Christ. God will reward that faithfulness and honor it in His own time. I am far more impressed with the kind of work that begins slow, by laying the groundwork and building into people’s lives the great foundational doctrines of the Gospel, and does not try necessarily to get a conversion every week. I am far more impressed with that because in time, it will grow; and, moreover, when it grows it will remain.
