OPHTHALMODULEIA

"Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God." (Colossians 3:22 KJV) 

The Christian is both an heir of the Father and a servant of the Lord. The Father does not only pamper you with tender love and soft care, but also, trains you as a soldier to serve his purposes and pleasure with undivided attention and utmost loyalty. Your ultimate goal is to live for the pleasure of the Father or to always do what pleases him (2Cor 5:9; Col 1:9). 

This week's Voice throws light on your qualities as a servant of the Lord chosen and given extraordinary power to serve the church which is the household of God. It enlightens you on an attitude that is commonly displayed by almost all servants but definitely not pleasing to God. This is so common that even you who are reading right now, perhaps, are deep into it knowingly or unknowingly. This attitude is called in the Greek Ophthalmoduleia [pronounced of-thal-mod-oo-li'-ah] and is translated into English as eyeservice. 

Eyeservice is service performed only under inspection, or the eye of an employer. Therefore, an eyeservant is a servant who attends faithfully to his duty only when watched. 

In Christ Jesus service is an expression of love. It is an honour to selflessly serve someone you love and cherish. The Lord is our First Love, and so, it is an honour to selflessly serve him. Any service that you render in the name of the Lord is a service to the Lord and must be done out of deep love and honour for him. Even if it is not a service done in the church but to a fellow Christian, an organisation or a state in agreement with the Lord's will, the service becomes a calling, and must be done out of deep love and honour for the Lord. 

If you are serving in the church as a janitor, a greeter, an usher, a music minister, a choreographer or a preacher, your service is to the Lord but not to men. If you are serving in a company as a cleaner, a factory hand, a supervisor, a front desk officer, a secretary or a manager, you are playing the role for the Lord, first of all, then for your employer secondarily. Therefore, you must play your role out of deep love and honour for the Lord. 

Most often than not, servants feel that they are not cherished, honoured or appreciated enough especially when they are working for a leader who is difficult to please. In order to feel a sense of value, most servants like to faithfully perform their roles when their leaders, employers, bosses, masters or supervisors are watching. In such a situation, they will attend faithfully to their duties so that they will receive rewards for their hard work. Rewards may come in the form of a simple touch of appreciation, a compliment from the leader or employer, a token of money from the boss or a promotion from the manager. They are the type of servants whom the Bible refers to as eyeservant. They attend faithfully to their duties only when watched. When no one is there to watch them, they feel too reluctant to perform their duties. 

Eyeservants are menpleasers. Menpleasers are people who court the favour of men by flattery. They say a lot of positive things and give a lot of exaggeratedly positive remarks about their leaders in their presence, but behind them, they pass derogatory remarks about them to vilify them. Beware of people who desire to pass exaggeratedly positive remarks about you. Most likely they say the opposite behind you. 

Characteristics of an honest servant

To serve means to carry out the interest of another person other than your own. It also means to put another person's interest before yours. Servant leaders put the interest of those led over their self interest. The following are the qualities of an honest servant:

1. An honest servant attends faithfully to his duty when nobody is watching. 

Honest servants do not want to be watched or supervised. They deliver faithfully even when nobody is watching. 

2. Honest servants are sincere.

Sincerity is when what is in your heart matches what is on your lips. Dishonest servants always pretend. What is in their hearts is totally different from what is on their lips. They deceive their masters to believe that they are more loyal than the holy angels of God. Watch any person who glorifies himself or herself by their words and not by their actions. 

3. Honest servants attend to their duties heartily. 

To serve heartily is to serve selflessly, and to serve selflessly is to put someone's interest before yours. For most servants, except they will gain a reward from performing a duty, they are not ready to perform it. In this situation, you have put your self interest before the interest of your master. So then, you are not a servant but a competitor. 

Consequences of Ophthalmoduleia

Performing eyeservice has led to fatal ends in most cases. The fatal ends of eyeservice include the following:

1. You will be found to be a pretender sooner or later. 

2. You will be exposed to as a deceiver. 

3. You will be ousted from your role, position or seat of influence. 

4. You will be deprived of all your entitlements, benefits, bonuses and privileges when you are found to be a pretender. 

5. You will have a bad name and will never be recommended by any well-meaning leader. 

6. You will end up disowned.

7. You will become wretched and miserable.

8. You will feel depressed.

9. You may contemplate taking your own life when you feel totally depressed. 

10. You may die before your time, not having fulfilled your God-given purpose and assignment on earth. 

#Verity Haven