Just Doing My Duty!

“And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded of him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’ ” (Luke 17:7-10).

This is a parable about service for the Lord. Too often we are concerned with what other Christians are doing for Jesus or upset about what they are not doing for Jesus. What we need to focus on is what we are doing or not doing for the Lord. We need to serve for an audience of One! Get your eyes off of others, which is the problem Peter had in John 21:20-22, and do what Jesus said: “Follow Me!”

The point of this parable is that a slave, or a servant, should expect no special praise or reward for doing what is his duty in the first place. The bond slave, symbolizing a Christian redeemed to serve Christ, is expected to serve his master. The duties and obligations which Christ gave to His disciples may seem above and beyond to some, but they represent only the minimal duties for a servant of Christ. To present ourselves to Christ as a living sacrifice is just our “reasonable service” (Romans 12:1). We should not expect a medal for doing the things which our Lord has commanded us to do. We don’t deserve special commendation for going to church faithfully, reading our Bible, praying, giving, witnessing, or doing many other things we should be doing in the first place.

The word “duty” in verse 10 actually means “debt.” As bond slaves to Jesus Christ, we owe Him many debts. Those who obey are not to think that their service is meritorious or worthy of any special honor. None of us, no matter how much or how hard we work, can ever put God in our debt. Rather, we are debtors to Him. In fact, we owe everything to Him!

The purpose of this parable is not to teach us in what spirit God deals with us, but in what spirit we should serve God. We, as God’s servants, need to put His will before ours and His work before ours. And at the end of the day, we are to confess that we are merely “unworthy slaves.” All the honor and glory are to go to Him, not to us. There is no greater privilege than to serve the Lord Jesus Christ.

So, let’s not puff out our chests or get a big head and expect a medal when we do that which our Lord and Master has commanded us to do. We’re simply doing our duty as the servants of Christ. And don’t worry about the praise, but serve for the glory of Christ. Even the donkey that brought Jesus into Jerusalem knew that the applause was not for him!