We live in an unusual time and place in history. Had we lived even 150 years ago in almost any place in the world, the population would have been full of servants or slaves. Legal slavery came to an end in America just over a century ago. It’s hard to believe that fellow Americans owned other people or forced them to work for them. America fought a civil war, in part, over the issue of slavery. But America is not the only country that allowed slavery. Slavery has been common in human history for thousands of years. The oldest historical accounts talk about slavery. Slavery was common here from the very beginnings of the colonies all the way up to the end of the civil war. In many parts of the world, slavery still exists; many people of many different ethnicities are currently enslaved.

The Bible mentions slavery or servanthood quite a bit. In the ancient world, slavery and indentured servitude were common. The Bible even gives regulations and guidelines regarding dealing with slaves and servants.

Perhaps you think that slavery or servanthood is a thing of the past. You might be surprised to know that, if you are a Christian, you are a servant, even a slave. That’s your role; it’s your identity; it’s who you are. But it’s likely that we don’t understand what that means.

As we continue our Summer Sermon Series on Christian identity, today our focus is on our identity as servants. Christians are servants in several different ways, and that’s what we’ll consider today.

We should identify ourselves as servants in the following ways.