Heavenly Butler
We’ve all seen movies where a wealthy family is served by a loyal butler who will do whatever is asked because it is his job to serve the family.
In the beloved Downton Abbey series, the Butler is Carson. He does things for the family that sometimes go against his better judgment. They made sure to cast him as always being concerned that family got the best in every situation. Still, Carson was a servant to the family.
As a butler, Carson was not allowed to tell family what they must do; it was the other way around.
In our modern times, among some in the church at large, one might think Jesus and the Holy Spirit are butlers to the family. It comes across as though they are not allowed to have a will and desire for the family that the family should give attention to and observe. It is reversed to the point that whatever the family tells them should be done is expected to be done.
The value has been reduced severely in some cases. As opposed to the greatest value being placed upon Christ Jesus, it now has been ascribed to the recipients of grace. There’s no doubt that Jesus Himself ascribed a great value to us by giving Himself for us. There’s no doubt that His love is on display for us at the cross.
There’s something, though, that needs to be considered here. Jesus does not owe His existence, joy, peace, and happiness to us. Jesus did not do what He did out of need for Himself, the Father, or the Holy Spirit. They have no needs; they were never in want, and they, for all eternity, will be self-sufficient and forever all-sustaining. So the things Jesus did were never because He would in any way cease to be without us. They do express a desire to have us as His own from a place of love.
He has applied a value to us not from a place of need but rather from a place of desire. Someone who does this is not taking on the role of being our butler. To put Him in such a light is to devalue Him! The reason His love for us is so special is communicated to us in the Psalms.
Psalm 8:4 What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?
Psalm 144:3 LORD, what is man, that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that You are mindful of him?
When we fail to get the right values placed where they belong, things become confused and upside down. It begins to send the wrong signals to those who look on and observe the way He is being treated by those claiming to be His and claiming to love Him. It becomes a show of disrespect as opposed to great respect for who He is and what He has accomplished that has benefitted us so greatly.
It is past time for the church to reclaim awe and wonder regarding who Christ is and who the Holy Spirit is and recapture respect and reverence while still maintaining an acute awareness of His great love. It is when reverence and respect are in place that the idea of His love increases in value to us. His grace becomes more valuable than ever before, and our gratitude levels soar even higher. To see Jesus or the Holy Spirit from the sense of being a butler lends itself to developing in us a sense of entitlement, which in turn lends itself to being less thankful and complaining more when things do not go as we wish. If a butler fails to satisfy the wishes of those he serves, he is met with disapproval. But a Lord is very different. Jesus is still King of kings and Lord of lords; He will never be a heavenly butler. I get to serve Him and others at the pleasure of His will, not mine. I consider it a great honor to be found in such a position with One so great.
