The Kings Men

I am starting this blog as an extension of my men’s group meeting. I simply have the best group of men who have decided to stand beside me in my pursuit of Jesus. These men are bar none the real deal. They sacrifice an hour and a half every week to gather together to seek the Lord. These men are Bondservant Knights, the name of this blog. Let me explain what that means.

What is a bondservant (doulos)? My good friend Asher brought me a song about 8 or 9 years ago called Doulos. He also gave me this story explaining what that meant. I am not even sure if he realizes the impact that story has had in my life. Here is my recollection of the story. In the ancient days, slaves were very much part of everyday life. Men of wealth typically had many slaves and usually had one high ranking slave who was responsible for overseeing his house (the master’s house). This slave was very close to the master and the master knew he could trust him explicitly. Sometimes the slave would show such devotion and loyalty that the master would be moved to give the slave his freedom. This granted the slave freedom from not only his master, but also removed him from the slave cast, he was completely free.

Some of these newly freed slaves would come back to their master and make their first decision as a free man; they would offer to continue their service to their master, by their own free will. These men were then known as a bondservant. The master would then have a gold ring pierced through the right ear of this bondservant so that all could see he has chosen to serve the master freely by his own free will. (No worries, no piercings required for us!)

That is why I like the concept of a bondservant, for we were once slaves to our flesh and slaves to the world, but through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ, we were set free from those chains by His death on the cross and subsequent resurrection. Once Jesus set us free, we, in our own free will, choose to serve King Jesus, thus making us bondservants of Christ. Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit, as a gift to set us apart, so all will know that we are bondservants of Christ.

That brings us to the Knights part. We are bondservants of Jesus Christ, who is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. We are adopted sons of the Father, which makes us heirs to the Kingdom. We are soldiers in the Kings army and we are God ordained leaders. God has, in a sense, knighted us. By choosing to serve the King, we have allowed him access into our lives. Jesus is a gentleman and would never use his authority to override our free will. We must choose to accept His offering. Once we make that choice, He sees us as his trusted men, similar, in my opinion, to King Arthur’s, Knights of the Round table. The table was said to have no head or foot, which indicated the equality of the members. We all serve the King, not in competition with each other for who will be the greatest, but in service to the King and His will in our lives. Great Honor comes with serving the King directly and so does great responsibility. We, as Bondservant Knights, are setting the example of leading our friends and family with a Christ-like nature. We must keep focused on the example that Jesus set for us, that being to serve in Love.

We lead our family by serving our wife, ensuring that we are clearing the path before her so that she can come into the fullness of what the King has for her. We serve our children by taking an active role in their development and activities. We actually engage in their spiritual, mental, and physical development. As we develop a pattern of involvement with our family’s needs, we will earn the complete trust of our wife, which will give her the freedom she needs to pursue the King even more fervently. We cannot underestimate our role as leader of our family, the stakes are too high.

We are Bondservant Knights, and we will seek first His kingdom, seek meeting at the round table with other Bondservant Knights, and submit ourselves to service in Love!

Strength and Honor