Independent Contractor or servant.

[steve]

Our intentions are to be about our Fathers business, to help build His Kingdom.
I was thinking about how we do that, are we independent contractors or servants.
A contractor typically has multiple projects to choose from.
Some may take more skill than others.
Some require more grunt labor.
Some require new tools that we would have to acquire in order to complete the project.
Some require us to partner with other contractors that we may or we may not enjoy working with.
Some are more highly remunerative.
Some gave us a very satisfying feeling to have accomplished.
Some look really impressive in our scrapbook.
A contractor will weigh out many of these factors before he pulls the trigger and commits to a project. The conditions are spelled out and a contract is signed. At this point, the contractor generally wants the customer to take a vacation to Aruba until the project is finished.

A servant is not at all independent.
They don’t get to choose which project will be worked on at that moment in time.
They don’t get to rely on their own skill level, the master may very well put them in the deep water and then teach them how to swim.
No job is too manual for a servant.
We don’t get to pick our partners nor our tools.
Remuneration isn’t a consideration.
Our satisfaction isn’t a consideration.
Our future resume isn’t a consideration.
A servant’s focus is on what the master wants done at the moment. He may want you on multiple projects at the same time and may require that some go dormant for a period.

So the question is, are we picking up our cross and following Him?
Or are we over in the corner with the project that we have chosen to do for Him, totally ignoring what is on His heart.

 

[rockfox]

Not just servants, slaves. We were bought with a price; the ultimate price.

And yet at the same time we are also son's. It's a funny juxtaposition. But the servant part, most people forget that and its what must come first.

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

 

[Verifyveritas76]

This was a big light bulb moment for me. If I am His servant, serving as a steward or shepherd, and God brings me another sheep to add to my flock or to “shepherd”, can I legitimately say no? If I do say no, for whatever reason, am I His servant? Is He my master?

I don’t think I even want to contemplate the answers to the last two questions, so I’ll just say, “yes, Lord” if He ever entrusts me with another and do my best to be a faithful Steward. After all, thats all that’s required of Stewards. Not fame, wealth, health, looks, or ease, but faithfulness to the Master thru caring for the stewarded.

 

[Keith Martin]

This was a big light bulb moment for me. If I am His servant, serving as a steward or shepherd, and God brings me another sheep to add to my flock or to “shepherd”, can I legitimately say no? If I do say no, for whatever reason, am I His servant? Is He my master?

I don’t think I even want to contemplate the answers to the last two questions, so I’ll just say, “yes, Lord” if He ever entrusts me with another and do my best to be a faithful Steward. After all, thats all that’s required of Stewards. Not fame, wealth, health, looks, or ease, but faithfulness to the Master thru caring for the stewarded.

All of the above resonates with me, planting my feet more firmly on the ground. And another wise person has been reinforcing for me lately that the steps I take with those feet are guided by the Lord, so why resist -- or think I have any other projects than the ones Father clearly designed me for?

 

[Verifyveritas76]

Along the lines of that same Shepherd/Steward metaphor, what does a Shepherd/Steward do when the Master entrusts him with a wounded sheep? What if this wounded sheep was wounded by the neglect or abuse of another Shepherd/Steward that was in His service? Does the Master have the right or authority to entrust this sheep to another shepherd/steward? If he doesnt have that right, does that mean that the wounded or abused or neglected sheep is doomed to be alone for the rest of their life? No protection, no provision, no care, and exposed to the wolves and the wild until they are emaciated and dead with no possibility to be fruitful and fulfill their Master’s will for their lives.

It’s easy to determine what the Master would do if one of His Shepherd/Stewards were to die. He would appoint another Shepherd or merge that flock with another flock. What’s more difficult to determine is what happens when one of His Shepherd/Stewards is a poor leader or steward or just downright abusive or neglectful with those entrusted to him. I think the answers to these questions are indicated in passages like Ezekiel 34 and Jeremiah 23 among others.

 

[rejoicinghandmaid]

Along the lines of that same Shepherd/Steward metaphor, what does a Shepherd/Steward do when the Master entrusts him with a wounded sheep? What if this wounded sheep was wounded by the neglect or abuse of another Shepherd/Steward that was in His service? Does the Master have the right or authority to entrust this sheep to another shepherd/steward? If he doesnt have that right, does that mean that the wounded or abused or neglected sheep is doomed to be alone for the rest of their life? No protection, no provision, no care, and exposed to the wolves and the wild until they are emaciated and dead with no possibility to be fruitful and fulfill their Master’s will for their lives.

It’s easy to determine what the Master would do if one of His Shepherd/Stewards were to die. He would appoint another Shepherd or merge that flock with another flock. What’s more difficult to determine is what happens when one of His Shepherd/Stewards is a poor leader or steward or just downright abusive or neglectful with those entrusted to him. I think the answers to these questions are indicated in passages like Ezekiel 34 and Jeremiah 23 among others.

@Verifyveritas76 Thank you for this expansion and break down of logic. It really does give me hope!