Class Difference

In Indian schools, I stood when the teachers entered the class and waited to sit until they said so. Going to college in the United States was a shock to me. On the first day of the class, when the teacher entered, I stood up; none of my classmates did. Andy, who sat in front of me, had his legs up in the chair ahead of him, and as the teacher entered the class, Andy said, “Hi Jim, how are you?” I had never called my teachers by their first names, and Andy’s actions seemed disrespectful. Andy meant no disrespect; cultures express respect and admiration differently.

In an agrarian culture, masters (kurioi) and servants (douloi) were unequal. They knew that and respected such class differences. Jesus used that to illustrate an important lesson.

“One of you has a servant (doulos) who plows your field or shepherds your sheep. You go to the field to see him. Will you say, ‘Come here and recline to eat with me,’ or ‘Prepare what I must eat and serve me; when I eat and drink, then you also may eat and drink’?” (Luke 17:7–8)

The answer was obvious: the latter. The servant prepared the food, served the master, and ate only when the master was full and finished.

Although this common practice promoted class difference, it wasn’t a mean or unkind action. Jesus continued,

“Will not the master have grace (charis) for the servant who did what was commanded?” (17:9)

For someone unfamiliar with the culture, the master’s actions might sound harsh. “Why wouldn’t he let the servant eat with him?” But the master’s kindness or grace (charis) was evident in him visiting the servant in the field, asking him to prepare a meal, and leaving enough food for the servant to eat. That servant, who normally ate a servant’s food, now ate his master’s food, perhaps with the freshest ingredients and lamb meat. In cultures like the one where the Lord Jesus lived, people knew how to play this masterful dance between class differences and respect for one another. Eating with the master wouldn’t have been comfortable for the servant, but his visit, request for food, and permission to eat his food would have encouraged that servant greatly.

Jesus concluded,

“Thus also you—when you have done everything commanded to you, you say, ‘We were unserviceable (a-chreios) servants until we did what we were instructed to do.’” (17:10)

A servant’s value was in obeying the master’s instructions. Until that moment, s/he was an unserviceable servant. The adjective a-chreios usually meant “unserviceable or unfit for war,” “unprofitable,” or “looking helpless or foolish.” Until a servant served the master, s/he wasn’t fulfilled in life. Jesus wanted his disciples to know they should never shy away from serving their Lord and God.

The same is true of us. We should never think of our services or ministries as chores or obligations. They are the privileges! Our joy comes in service, just like “The Son of Man didn’t come to be served but to serve and give his soul a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).