Wildcard of Compatibility

1To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; 3not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

1 Peter 5:1-4

Peter presents the fundamental posture of the Christian preacher. He commands the people to do something by telling them they should want to do it. He commands them to be willing to do something. And so we see from the get go the central assumption of the gospel in this passage. Every command in scripture is a plea to look to the cross that the heart may change, resulting in willful obedience. The command is to serve.

Christian leadership is hallmarked with service. Internet dating is hallmarked with compatibility. We are consumed with finding that person with whom we are most compatible. I am recently engaged to a woman with whom I have many wonderful compatibilities. Such compatibilities, I am sure, will account for much ease in our relationship. But making compatibility the number one criterion is to start things off on a self-centered footing. To seek compatibility is to look for someone who likes things the way you do (or likes doing those necessary things that you don't like doing!). The wonderful freedom of the Christian servant is that they are no longer bound by such restrictions. Like the improvisational artist who writes his melody on the fly--adapting to the surrounding music--so the servant, no longer imprisoned by the rigidness of his own desires, is free to write his own life and write in harmony with whoever he encounters. Servanthood is the wildcard of compatibility.