Teaching: The Purpose of the Message — Bruce Rodgers

I appreciate each one that's come along this evening, and we're going to try to look on page two of the outline tonight on purpose of the message, what are my goals in teaching the Word of God, and probably tomorrow night and Wednesday night we'll be trying to take part three, the preparation of the message, looking at Bible study methods and principles of interpretation, and the final night will be devoted to the presentation of the message.

So some of this I've never handled in ministry in this way before, so I'm not sure just how far I'll get in various parts of it. So we'll begin with 1st Corinthians chapter 14. When you read through this section of 1st Corinthians, you see that it's taking up the subject of spiritual gifts and service in the assembly, and one of the key terms that is found in this chapter is the word to edify or edification.

Edification as the Purpose of Assembly Ministry

It occurs probably about five or six times, and we're just going to notice a few of those times. In verse 3 it says, but he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification and exhortation and comfort.

He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself, but he that prophesieth edifyeth the church. Then at the end of verse 5 he talks again about the limitation of tongues, it says, except to interpret that the church may receive edifying.

Verse 12 says, even so ye, forasmuch as you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that you may excel to the edifying of the church. Verse 17 makes reference again to, thou verily give us thanks well, but the other is not edified.

And down in verse 26 he says, how is it then, brethren, when you come together, every one of you has a psalm, has a doctrine, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation, let all things be done unto edifying.

So, what does edification mean? Well, it really is a very simple word, it just means to build up. And so, this chapter is emphasizing that all public service in the assembly has this purpose, it must be edifying, it must be beneficial, it must be helpful, it must build up the assembly.

And so, this is really putting a guidance and even a limitation on the kind of activity that we would involve ourselves in, that whatever we do in the assembly, the goal ought to be to build up the assembly.

It's not to parade our own spiritual gifts, it's not to prove a point, it's to build up the saints. Now, it's put in contrast in this chapter to confusion. Verse 33 says, God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

Verse 40 says, let all things be done decently and in order. And so, involved in the concept of being edifying is that it must be, first of all, understandable. If I try to teach you something and you don't get it, I have not edified you, I have not helped you unless you come to understand what I am teaching, what I am saying.

And then, of course, the content has to be something beneficial when you do understand it. And so, that's a pretty basic thing, but there was a problem in Corinth where they were all eager to be heard, they were all eager to be seen, they were all trying to be important and they were forgetting that the goal was to help one another, to build up the assembly.

Now, other words that are used with this in the same passage talks about edification and exhortation and comfort. And so, they're very similar ideas but it brings together the idea of encouragement and comfort and profit benefit.

So, every meeting of the assembly should really be gauged by this. And the reason why I'm starting with this point is that, for some reason, today more than at any time in my spiritual experience, I recognize that many Christians seem dissatisfied with the value of the teaching that they are getting in the assembly.

Many assemblies struggle with attendance. Almost every assembly does. And I'm not sure if it is that they get so much benefit from the one meeting that they do come to, Sunday morning, that they don't need any help the rest of the week or what the problem is.

But I'm afraid it's a different issue. There tends to be a lack of commitment to the things of God today. That's certainly one facet that is affecting all of us. It's affecting the assemblies. And so, it makes it all the more crucial.

We can't control everybody's life. It makes it all the more crucial that every meeting be profitable. Every meeting be beneficial. If people come to the assembly and they go home disheartened, discouraged, upset because of what goes on in the assembly meeting, it's not what is of God.

This passage is teaching that very clearly. God is not the author of confusion, neither is he the author of strife and contention and all of those kinds of things. Those are all things that are not edifying.

And so, in as much as we can only control ourselves and our contribution to the assembly, this is what we need to do. Seek that you may excel to the edifying, the building up, the strengthening of the assembly.

And I will just make a couple of comments. Maybe I should read Ephesians 4 and 29 because this really connects not only with the assembly meetings but with all of our interactions with one another. Ephesians 4 and 29 says, Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

And then that is put in contrast in the following three verses with grieving the spirit and issues of bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking and so on. So, obviously, those are all things that are very destructive.

And you just have to ask yourself, what do you feel like when you've spent an evening together and you've dissected some of the other Christians? You usually feel down, discouraged, maybe even a bit guilty for what you have involved yourself in and the conversations you've had back and forth.

We ought to make it a conscious goal that our conversation, one with another, will be edifying. Ministering grace, ministering strength, ministering encouragement so that people go home encouraged, strengthened, happy in the Lord.

And so that is the important goal. What is not edifying? I've already basically told you what's not edifying. Anything that is of the flesh, whether it's parading of gift or whether it is rivalry and strife.

1st Corinthians 1 to 4, that whole section of 1st Corinthians is taken up with the problem of contention, conflict in the assembly, and being parties, little cliques, and divided up. But I would recognize as well that at times and even conferences have run into this criticism of unprofitable ministry.

And I would believe that this is what is behind the recent trend in a number of places to go to designated speakers at conferences and so on, rather than just a completely open platform. I have mixed feelings about it.

I wouldn't really want to see all conferences go that way. I have been involved in conferences of both kinds, and honestly I can say that the Spirit of God is not hindered or prevented from working in either case.

And so I don't accept the idea that it forbids or makes it so the Spirit of God cannot work. But at the same time, neither do I believe that it guarantees that the Spirit of God is going to work in blessing.

We are frail human vessels at best, and so we all, as we participate in handling the Word of God, we need to have a consciousness of God in all that we do. And so I would just encourage that we would seek consciously to be in the presence of God, to have the mind of God, and to speak a message that God would lay upon our hearts.

But there is a problem that I think has been common among the assemblies for many years in North America, and that is that preachers are put on a pedestal. And if preachers are there at a conference, woe betide any local brother that gets up.

And I don't subscribe to that. I believe that teaching is according to spiritual gift. Now you might say, well, aren't preachers all gifted? Not necessarily in teaching. There are gifted evangelists who are excellent soul winners, and their joy, their zeal, their interest is in the work of the gospel.

And I have had some of them talk to me and say that they feel a lot of pressure going to a conference. They want to go to get fed, but they know they're going to be under pressure to get up on that platform, whether they feel equipped or not.

And so really the spiritual principle that we find in the Word of God is that it is ministry according to spiritual gift. And I have heard of areas, especially in Great Britain, where very, very common for conferences to be conducted by local men who are teachers.

And full-time preachers are there happily in the audience appreciating the ministry. And so I think that's a better balance in understanding the scriptures in this regard. And so I'm not going to say anymore about the preachers, except that one of the criticisms that I have heard many times is preachers who are giving dried-out, recycled ministry.

And if you hear the same message over and over and over again, with the same little punchlines, it's like feeding the Saints with dry, moldy, stale bread. And so that is definitely something that should exercise all the Saints.

And I believe personally any brother who falls into that trap should be gently spoken to and exhorted because it's not fair to him and it's not fair to the Lord's people to let that condition go on. Those are some of the reasons that I see as why conferences have gone the way they have in recent years.

Maturing Believers in Christ

But of course we can have the same issue, the same problem, even in local assembly meetings. The second purpose that is expressed in the scriptures is promoting maturity and perfection in Christ. And there's one verse in the same chapter here, 1 Corinthians 14, that says, verse 20, brethren, be not children in understanding, how be it in malice be ye children, but in understanding be ye men.

And that word men there is actually the word perfect or mature. And I like linking together, there's really a lot of verses that we could read, but Colossians chapter 1 has really quite a thrilling little section.

Colossians chapter 1, verse 27, this should surely give us incentive in speaking the word of God. He says, to whom, that is to the Saints, God would or wishes to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus, whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

And if you were to turn to Ephesians 4 and verses 11 to 16, in that section you have the gifts of pastors and teachers, you have evangelists, pastors and teachers, and those gifts in particular are directed towards the perfecting of the Saints.

And I find that truth very helpful because it is really saying that in teaching the word of God, one of my goals is to help you become equipped for your work of ministry, for your enabling to build up the Church of God.

And so as we speak the word of God, we're not just wanting to to help the people of God in an individual personal way, but to help to equip them for their development and their ability to be a help to others.

And so in these passages then, we can see both in Ephesians 4 and here in Colossians 1, the goal is to grow up into Christ, to develop in our spiritual life. And the interesting thing is, if you are going to grow up instead of just grow old, if you are going to grow up and mature in your spiritual life, it requires truth and it requires love.

Truth and love are the foundational elements of spiritual life. And so these passages are speaking about this maturing. And in Colossians 1 and 27, we are really given what is, to me, tremendously valuable.

It says, whom we preach. Now, you notice he doesn't say what we preach, it's whom we preach. And so if you want to know what to preach, he's telling you here, you need to preach Christ. It's Christ ministered to the saints that is going to develop and reproduce that precious life into its perfection.

Sometimes, I'm afraid, we get sidetracked. Now, I know that every truth, every principle is worthy to be taught, but we need to see its connection to Christ. That helps me tremendously to value every principle, every truth that I find in the Word of God is to relate it to the Lord Jesus Christ.

That's where it derives its value and its significance. And so, don't get caught up with the details, get caught up with its significance as it relates to Christ. Ultimately, everything depends on your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

That is what determines your spiritual well-being, your spiritual development. And so here it is, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, whom we preach, warning every man, teaching every man in all wisdom.

And here's the ultimate goal, the long-term goal, the eternal goal that we may present. This is looking forward into the judgment seat of Christ, the presentation in the presence of God, that we may present every man perfect, complete, brought to maturity in Christ Jesus.

You know, I wish that every one of us who ever handle the Word of God and speak to other people with the Word of God would be able to think in the future tense to the day when we are going to look at that person in the presence of Christ.

Now, let me just give you a little illustration or analogy. Parents with your children, always handle your children with the future in view. Because one day, you're going to stand face-to-face, eye-to-eye, and you may even be looking up to them.

And you want to be able to look at them and them look at you and know that you have done everything that you can to give them the best potential of life, that you have labored to help them become the kind of adult that you are pleased with and that they can have confidence in what they have been raised with.

This is a spiritual reality in Christ. There is a day in our future when we are going to be in the presence of Christ. And all of the influence, all of the benefit that each one has contributed to that life is actually going to be manifested in the presence of Christ.

I don't know how that's possible to be done, but that's what the Scriptures teach us. And so, Paul spoke about looking forward to the day of Christ and being able to rejoice. And of those converts and those that he had taught being his joy and his rejoicing, his crown of joy in the presence of the Lord Jesus.

So, please remember that. Your contribution to the lives of the saints of God is not forgotten before God. And you will rejoice together in the development in Christlikeness that will be accomplished.

Teaching That Produces Godliness

And so, that's a very important one. Connected with that, let's go to 1 Timothy 1 for a look at producing godliness. Now, the Apostle Paul left Timothy in the area of Ephesus, and he mentions that in verse 3, to try to keep other doctrine from being taught.

Verse 3 says, "...as I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies which minister questions rather than godly edifying, which is in faith.

So do.". Now, the end of a commandment, now that word commandment is really the same word as charge. The end or aim of the charge is charity, love. Out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith, unfeigned or unhypocritical, from which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling, desiring to be teachers of law, understanding neither what they say nor whereof they affirm.

Now, 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy in Titus are what are called pastoral epistles. Pastoral just means shepherding. And so, they are written to an individual, but for the benefit of the Lord's people, the shepherding of God's people, the care of God's people.

And so, here's a very important principle that is given to us. The doctrine of God, if it is taught in a balanced, healthy way, will produce the quality of life that God is looking for. Godliness. And that godliness is essentially love.

Love that comes out of a pure heart. A heart that is sincere in its motivations. It is pure in its integrity. A good conscience. A good conscience is extremely important. And a faith that is unhypocritical.

The love that God wants to see reproduced in us must come out of a pure heart, in harmony with a good conscience, and in a faith that is genuine, real. And so, teaching is extremely important to providing that knowledge of God that is going to enable us to respond to God in faith, in love, in trust, and producing in us this quality of life that is godliness.

And so, the truth of Christ, the principles of God contain the very character of God, the very life of God, which is this love that is of Christ. Now, this connection is brought out a number of times in 1 Timothy, and it's a worthwhile thing to go through and meditate in that.

Preserving the Church From Departure

Now, the next thing that we have is the protection from departure. The producing of godliness, and then in contrast, the protecting from departure. And that's found in Chapter 4. And if you read through 1 Timothy, you'll see that 1 Timothy 4 begins a contrast.

Now, or but the Spirit speaks expressly that in latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy. And so, you have lies, you have hypocrisy.

One of the principles that we need to confront over and over again in our own individual life and in the assembly testimony is that the truth of God must be obeyed in order to be held. You will not hold the truth of God very long in a bad conscience.

When your belief and your behavior are in conflict, it won't be long before you have to make an adjustment one way or the other. Either you bring your behavior back in line with your belief, or you will change your belief to make your behavior more comfortable.

That's the challenge that is presented in this epistle. And so, the teaching of the truth of God is to preserve us in godliness, in reverence for God, in obedience to his principles, in fulfillment of the kind of life that is of God.

And it's a preservative from being snared into hypocrisy, into deception. And the principle that is found in the beginning of Chapter 4 is that error enters easily upon a defiled conscience, a defiled heart.

And so, there's a great risk in letting ourselves slip away from the truth that we know, becoming disobedient to it, because we will tend to drift in our belief. And so, we have at the end of Chapter 4 then, after a lot of exhortation to Timothy personally about maintaining a good example and teaching, it says in verse 16, take heed unto thyself and to the doctrine.

Continue in them, for in doing this, thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee. Now, I'm sure you all know that the word save here is not being used in the sense of initial salvation, but as in the sense of preservation.

It is salvation in its comprehensive sense of being in the sphere of God and his work and experiencing the blessing of the God who is God our Savior. Take heed, guard yourself, guard the teaching, and in doing this, you will preserve yourself and those who hear you.

And so, it is very key to protection from departure. A second passage in 2 Timothy Chapter 4 is even stronger language, and he says there, I charge thee, verse 1, therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead at his appearing in his kingdom, preach the word.

Be instant, in season, out of season. Reprove, that is, convict, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. But after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables.

That's a pretty sad thing to contemplate. But we have to acknowledge that the drift is always going to be downward. It takes a lot of spiritual energy to move against the stream, against the tide, which is always away from what is of God.

And so, the key principle that is emphasized here is that we need to preach the word of God, we need to teach the principles of God constantly so that there will be preservation from this drifting away.

Because once people have drifted away, they become very resistant to being moved back. They're not ready to listen. And I guess if there is one thing that I would recognize today in contrast to maybe a generation ago, and there is both pros and cons to this, it used to be if a preacher came along and preached his convictions, it seemed like the whole assembly just almost instinctively bowed to what was being taught and followed it, whether it was good or bad.

And there were some extremes possibly that ended up being foisted upon saints because of some particular conviction or something that somebody has. But there used to be this reverence for what was taught, that we bow to it, we follow it, we do it.

Today, if you don't particularly like it, you just ignore it. Write the preacher off. He's gotten a bit extreme. And so, yes, there is in one sense, a healthy independence, but in another sense, there is just an indifference to the truth of God.

And the tendency to be attracted by whatever is novel, whatever is new, exciting, and not to recognize that the truth of God is eternal, unchanging, and we need the same truth over and over again. Someone has put it this way, what is preached against will not be practiced.

What is practiced will not be preached against. And so often you find this, where something that was once preached against, gradually there's been a drifting away and that which they preached against is no longer being preached against because there's too many in the audience who are doing what they had preached against before, and now it becomes too offensive to teach it to them.

So it is a challenge in every way today. The fifth point that I wanted to emphasize was the perpetuating of truth, the faithfulness to the stewardship. And there's a number of references to that. I'll just quote you 1 Timothy 6 and 20, where he says, O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust.

Let's go back to 2 Timothy 2 and verse 1. Thou, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and the things that thou hast heard from me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.

Now, this is clearly giving to us the idea of perpetuating the truth from one generation to the next. This is where the assembly Bible readings have an invaluable function, and it's a pity that so often they're so poorly attended.

Because it used to be, now, in the assembly that I grew up, whoever was there Sunday was there on Tuesday night as well. You just expected to see everybody in the assembly. There was a Bible reading after the breaking of bread on Sunday morning, and there was a Bible reading on Tuesday night.

And so all of us received the teaching that was being given verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book by book, consecutively through the scriptures. And so we all were given that basis of knowledge and understanding.

Today, in many assemblies, especially if the only Bible reading is in the middle of the week or something, there are believers who will never be at a Bible reading, and they are not getting this foundation of consistent, consecutive teaching, learning what the verses mean in their context week by week.

And so this is a real detriment, and it becomes difficult because often in giving ministry, we tend to speak on a particular subject, and we're not going consecutively, consistently developing a chapter or a book.

And so some of that vital teaching is being missed in many places today. And so the thing that concerns me as I see this is, how are we going to perpetuate the knowledge that we hold today to the next generation if they're not there to receive it and if they're not getting it from the assembly meetings?

And so this is an important responsibility, to absorb the truth, to hold it faithfully, and then to communicate it to others who will be fitted to teach others also. Now, I should link with this maybe 1 Peter Chapter 1, sorry, 1 Peter Chapter 4.

There's an interesting little section here. This is talking about spiritual gift. Verse 10 says, as or according as every man or each one has received a gift, even so minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. If any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth. Let God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever.

The concept of stewardship is something that is so important for us to grasp. Every generation receives the truth of God as something entrusted to us. We become responsible for what we do with it. Just as you know in families, how quickly the gospel is lost in a family if the children do not follow.

It's always such a sad thing to see grandparents still going faithfully, maybe a son or daughter, maybe none. And the grandchildren, unless the grandparents manage to be able to bring them to the meetings and get them under the sound of the gospel, those grandchildren may never read the Bible, they never hear the word of God.

It just is heartbreaking to see that knowledge of God being lost in our families. And of course the same responsibility, the same challenge is in the assembly. And so each one of us has been given a gift and equipping, an ability from God to serve the Lord's people.

And if it is a teaching gift, a speaking gift, it says, if any man speak, this isn't just referring to one particular gift, this is any of the speaking gifts. Let him speak as the oracles of God. Now that is a very strong statement.

We do not believe in infallibility, that we are infallible when we preach. We don't make those kind of claims. But this is a tremendous statement. We are not here to speak our own opinions. We are not here just to push our own ideas.

We are here to communicate the mind of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as a message from God. The oracles of God were the communications from the divine presence to the people of God. And so that really places a burden upon us, a significant burden that we are going to represent God accurately as we teach the scriptures.

Teaching With a Goal of Restoration

Now, the last one that I had in mind in this idea of purposes of the message is the potential of restoration. And we're running back to 2 Timothy for this. As you will have noticed in these verses, I've drawn most of the verses really from 1 and 2 Timothy.

And so that's a hint to you that if you want to meditate in these ideas and think about how to benefit God's people, 1 and 2 Timothy are very important to meditate in and gain help from. 2 Timothy 2, verse 23, but foolish and unlearned questions avoid knowing that they do gender strifes.

And the servant of the Lord must not strive but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient in meekness instructing or correcting those that oppose themselves or who set themselves in opposition. If God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil who are taken captive by him at his will.

It's one of the most humbling things when you try to help somebody and you just end up getting exasperated and you speak harshly and you end up driving them away further than they already were. One of the things that we need to challenge ourselves continually is if we are going to speak to someone, remember you are just the servant, not the master.

You may be upset, angry, justly angry with the person's behavior or their wrong teaching, their wrong ideas, it may be frustrating, but remember that you're just the servant and that you are acting on behalf of the Lord and he is asking you to be gentle, to be a shepherd, to be meek, to recognize that you also can fail, that you also are liable to imbalances, extremes, shortcomings, inconsistencies.

And so in handling people who are in error or who are failing in some way, they've been snared. What this passage is emphasizing is that there are spiritual powers at work, both for us and against us.

And we sometimes lose sight of that and we're just thinking on the human level and we're frustrated with the person and we think they need to be treated harshly. And the encouragement here is if you end up quarreling, strife, you've basically lost the battle even if you win the argument.

You need to win the person, not just win the argument. And so the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all, apt to teach. That is, having skill in teaching, in presenting the truth so that it can be understood, it can be convicting to them, in meekness instructing or convicting those who are in opposition.

Looking to God, if God possibly will grant them repentance. And so we have to seek restoration. And so as we teach the Word of God, we recognize that there's always the tendency to drift. And so we are seeking to restore, like the good shepherd, restoring back to himself.

There's one more verse that I would like to connect with this, and that's found in 2 Corinthians 1. And I think this would fit with what I've been trying to emphasize tonight. Verse 21 says, Now, he which establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who has also sealed us and given us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

Now, he's emphasizing the commitment of God to us as his people. God is not going to give up on us. He has committed himself to us, he has sealed us, he has secured us, he has a day of glory and perfection in mind.

Now then, Paul says, Moreover, I call God for a record or a witness upon my soul that to spare you, I came not as yet unto Corinth. And then he says, balancing what he just said, not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy, for by faith you stand.

Now, you really need to know the context of this passage to appreciate what he's saying here. But if you think just back to the first epistle, he has had to speak to them very, very firmly. He has had to convict them of the sins and the many failures that were going on in the assembly in Corinth.

They were really getting away from God in a bad way. And so, 1 Corinthians is pretty heavy-duty stuff. Now, he is trying to draw them closer to himself. In fact, he's explaining himself to them as to why he hasn't yet visited.

And even now, instead of coming at this time, he's writing another letter. Why? Well, it's not because he's afraid to come, and he warns them when he gets to the end of this letter that if he comes, that he won't spare, he will have to bring the rod in judgment if they haven't changed.

But he is very concerned that they are not in a condition ready for him to be there face-to-face. He's writing to give them time to change. He's not rushing in to do battle. He has held back. And so, that's what he says in verse 23, I'm calling God for a witness on my soul that to spare you, I didn't come.

And then, in case they took that as a threat, as a kind of an overbearing thing, you know, I didn't come because I didn't want to, you know, just to spare you the confrontation. He goes on to say, not for that we have dominion over your faith.

What is he saying? He says, I am not the Lord of your faith. I want to be a helper of your joy. I want to be a strength to you. I want to help you to have joy in the Lord. I am not your master. Now, he was an apostle.

And if anyone would have a right to assert the divine authority over the people of God, it would be an apostle. But he says, I don't have dominion over your faith. This has been, at times, a problem among God's people.

And sometimes, it's because some who are leaders among God's people are very strong characters, dominant characters. And by force of their own dominant personality, their persuasiveness, and so on, they have made the Lord's people toe the line.

Because it's right, they're going to make it happen. Now, again, there's all different personalities. We all have our own personalities, and we all have our own tendencies of weakness in relation to how we teach the Word of God.

But if it's my dominance and my presence that makes you do something, that's not good enough. You must develop in your personal faith in God. You must develop your own personal convictions as to what you believe.

And so, as we teach the Word of God, it comes with divine authority. And yet, we must manifest a gentleness, a carefulness, that we do not over-dominate and make the Lord's people subservient to ourselves, but to be those who are trying to be alongside, to help, rather than take the position of the master.