Called to be Sent
Paul begins the letter to the Christian church in Rome by identifying his master, his office and his purpose. He sees himself first and foremost as ‘a servant of Christ Jesus.’ While defining his submission to Christ (‘servant’ is doulos, a word usually translated ‘slave’), the title ‘servant of the Lord’ was applied especially to outstanding figures in Israel’s history such as Moses (Joshua 14:7) and David (Psalm 18:1). Like the Old Testament prophets, Paul saw his mission in line with theirs, unfolding the purposes of God that had been shown to him. In this sense of succession, the ‘servant of the Lord’ from the Old Testament has become the ‘servant of Christ Jesus’ in Paul’s opening sentence.
As to his office, ‘apostle,’ was a distinctively Christian word from the beginning. Jesus Himself chose and used it of the twelve and Paul claimed to be added to them. The distinctive qualifications of an apostle were that they were eye-witnesses of the historical Jesus, especially of His resurrection, that they were directly and personally called and commissioned by Him, and that they were sent out to preach by Jesus and with His authority.
The terms ‘slave’ and ‘apostle’ were normally worlds apart. ‘Slave’ expressed great humility. A slave had no rights of his or her own. Paul saw himself as having been purchased by Christ and so belonging entirely to Him. By contrast ‘apostle’ was a title carrying great authority. It was a privilege to be called and sent out by Him.
Every Christian is called to be a servant (slave) of Christ. Every Christian looks to Him as Saviour and Lord. And while not every Christian is called to be an apostle, we are all called to go into our world. The word for ‘apostle’ basically meant ‘a sent one.’ We are all called and we are all ‘sent ones.’ The more we understand our call to slavery to Christ, the more we will understand our call to be His ‘sent ones.’