The Verse of the Day for August 12, 2015 comes from 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT):
Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
The Amplified Bible renders the two verses this way:
19 Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own,
20 You were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own]. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body.
This passage, in making reference to one who has been “bought with a price,” “a purchased possession,” brings to mind the idea of the servant or slave. In the early 70s or thereabout, I was introduced to the Greek term “doulos”, translated servant or more literally “bondslave.,” one of the most misunderstood concepts found in the Scriptures. The portrayal of the servant or slave, as revealed in the Bible has particular significance at this time, in light of the sesquicentennial of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1865, a document that changed the legal status of millions from “slave” to “free.”
In 1975 I produced an article “Doulos: A Different View of the Slave.” In 1978 while completing my Master’s thesis, I explored the subject in light of Paul’s literary style in the Church Epistles. I went on to complete my Ph.D. in 1986 with a dissertation entitled Portrait of the Bondslave in the Bible: Slavery and Freedom in the Works of Four Afro-American Poets. Four years ago, I posted a blog at “Dr. J’s Apothecary Shoppe” that is revised and re-posted in light of the Verse of the Day.
For more than forty years I have been studying the term doulos, which has been translated “servant, bond-servant, bondslave, slave.” Accompanying my study has been a desire to see its personal application in my life. The concept has thus become deeply embedded into my soul, revealing the essence of who I am, expressed in this poem:
More Than Metaphor
Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle,
separated to the gospel of God
Romans 1:1
To capture my essence I strive to find a word,
Phrase, image or mind picture to bring clarity,
To express my deep yearning for intimacy.
Like Paul, my calling card reads: “servant of the Lord.”
Each fiber of my being and each emotion
Pulsates with lifeblood flowing from a servant’s heart.
As I endeavor to learn and live to impart
The joy of serving with pure-hearted devotion,
I pledge to work in voluntary servitude,
As I fix my eyes, looking unto my Lord’s hands,
To heed His Word and to do more than He commands,
To serve with love from a heart filled with gratitude.
Beyond a single concept, more than metaphor
Is this branded bondslave, who embodies “the more.
The basin and towel are symbolic of the essence of servanthood as demonstrated by the Lord Jesus Christ in John 13.
In discussing this topic of the servant or bondslave, an image almost immediately comes to mind: a basin and a towel, representative of one of my favorite passages regarding the ministry of Jesus Christ, who revealed so clearly the heart of a bond servant when he washed the disciples’ feet in the account from John 13. This very moving excerpt inspired another related poem:
Let Me Wash Your Feet
John 13:4-5, 19
As Jesus put off his garments and wrapped a towel
around himself,
So I lay aside my pride with nothing to hide and
expose myself.
As a humble servant I long to wash your feet.
You could yourself
Perform this deed of loving service, but let me
Serve you myself.
To allow me to wash your feet is to bless me,
as Christ himself
Blessed the Twelve before he departed from this earth.
You have yourself
The key to the door of blessing for you and me:
As Jesus took
Upon himself
The servant’s form
That I myself
Might freely give
To you yourself,
So I ask you
As Christ himself
Still asks of me,
So I ask you to
Let me to wash your feet.
One of the ancient practices associated with bondservants in the Bible is the year of the Jubilee, the Old Testament practice whereby the 50th year was a special sabbatical period when Hebrew slaves were released from their obligation of servitude, and they were free to leave their masters and go out on their own. These servants could by their freedom of will choose to serve their masters for the rest of their lives in light of the close relationship they had established. On my 50th birthday, I wrote “This Year of My Jubilee” which alludes to this Old Testament practice:
This Year of My Jubilee
Exodus 21:1-6
Leviticus 25:1-17
I stand alone, clothed only with the wind
At the end of my seventh sabbath year.
Gathering of blessings now flow through my mind
As the shofar’s call resounds in my ear
To proclaim this year of my jubilee.
I reflect upon the wonders of this grace
Wherein I stand, a bondslave now made free.
In this golden moment as I embrace
The truth and pledge to love as you command,
Pierce my ear–place your brand upon my soul.
Enlighten me so I may understand
That to run to serve is life’s highest goal.
Unfold before me pleasures of your ways
And seal my vows to serve you all my days.
Once more Michael Card has the perfect song entitled “Jubilee” to accompany this poem.
I will conclude this entry by posting a PDF of the original article “Doulos: A Different View of a Slave” which was first published in 1975. Accompanying the article is a letter to Apostle Thamo Naidoo to whom I sent the original article along with two of the poems posted above: “More Than Metaphor” and “This Year of My Jubilee.” I am grateful to my beloved Brother Lester Wiley Carver, who encouraged me to post the article. I trust that it will minister to all who read it. I welcome any comments or thoughts that this post might have inspired.
Before reading the article, listen to a powerful song written and performed by Dean Ellenwood, who captures the depth of commitment embodied in the individual called of God to be a bondslave, a true Doulos.
Doulos: A Different View of a Slave
When a believer accepts Jesus Christ as Lord, that individual assumes the position of a “servant” or “bondslave”–a doulos
Dr. J's Apothecary Shoppe 