Servant or Slave?

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. (Romans 1: 1-6)

In the beginning of his letter to the Christians in Rome, the apostle Paul introduced himself with a traditional salutation that included a summary of the gospel. He carefully chose the words that he used to describe himself, servant of Jesus Christ and apostle.

In her bible study on the book of Romans in the September issue of Lutheran Woman Today, Sarah Henrich points out that the Greek word doulos from which servant is translated in most bibles really means slave.

The concept of slavery, especially when we remember and acknowledge the appalling history of slavery in our own country, makes us uneasy. It’s difficult for us to reconcile slave and Jesus in the same thought. These days, we carefully distinguish between the words servant and slave. They mean very different things to us.

But Paul uses the word slave, even though translators have softened it for us. By calling himself a slave of Jesus Christ, Paul is teaching us that he “not only serves Jesus Christ, he literally belongs to him.” (Henrich)

What would it mean if we were to claim to be a slave, to literally belong to something or someone? What it would mean for our lives and for our world if we would claim to be a slave to Christ?