Spotlight 10/2023: Reigning with Christ is serving in a perfect way
Why should we serve God and strive to reign, District Apostle Michael Deppner from the DRC Congo asks in his article on our annual motto. In the end, no one gets more than their neighbour. The effort, however, is worth it.
When considering our motto for this year, more focus is put on serving and less on reigning.
Our Chief Apostle mentioned that when we will reign with the Lord, it will not be a question of power in the earthly sense, but to reign as Jesus Christ reigns. He reigns by serving. He serves all people in a perfect way. We will then no longer be influenced by our imperfections and our humanity with its limits. We will only serve in doing good and subsequently being a blessing.
Reigning can be considered as a perfect way to serve. In some languages the term “civil servant” represents everyone from the office worker to the president or prime minister of a country. Even in royalty, a king makes a pledge to serve his country and his people.
Many years ago, I read an article about a president who was narrowly re-elected and was to govern the people of his country. His words touched me: “Day and night, I am always mindful that my job as a leader is looking after millions of lives, including those who do not wish me well. And every life matters to me because every life is precious.”
You cannot ask a parent which child they like the most. Parents come to know and love each one of their children despite their idiosyncrasies and quirks. Perhaps you could ask, which one do you work better with, which one causes the least problems. But this should not affect the love and service that we spend and invest in our children. We could end up spending more time with a problematic child—and this out of love. The father of the prodigal son shows us that this is a timeless behaviour over the ages.
We live in a time in which we are surrounded by shouts of “What’s in it for me?” or “Why should I serve or aspire to reign
- if all glory is to God?
- if I do not get more than my neighbour?
- if God loves everyone equally?”
I can only look at Christ and try to emulate His way and His reason for serving—yes, even sometimes with unrequited love. He remained focused on the end goal: eternal fellowship with God and with my brother and sister. What more could I want?
Article info
Author:
Date:
Keywords:
Michael Deppner
04.07.2023
District Apostle,
motto,
Serving and reigning with Christ
