What do you think when you see your name somewhere? Do you like who you are? Are you ashamed of your name? Are you reminded of all of your faults or past failures? What do you think when you see yourself in a mirror?
Now, how do you think God sees you?
I cringe when I hear prayers like this: “O, Lord, we aren’t worthy…” Or “God, we are just unworthy sinners saved by grace…” Now some people really mean this when they pray it, but many others are just trying to make an attempt at humility. I think both are wrong. Perhaps you once saw yourself as an unworthy sinner. If you have come to Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, guess what? Your sins have been forgiven–you are no longer a sinner, so, stop seeing yourself that way!
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. [1 Cor 6:9-11]such were some of you
And such were some of you. Were. WERE. BUT now you have been …washed, …sanctified, …justified. What has been washed we call clean. You are clean. Those who have been sanctified are called saints. You are a saint. If you were justified, then you are justified. If you were washed, you are clean. If you were sanctified, then you are sanctified.
It’s not boasting in anything you have done or are. But it is boasting in what He has done. Stop withholding your praise. Give God some credit for what He has done and is doing in you and for you.
The prodigal son tried this “I’m not worthy” approach once.
“And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ [Luke 15:21]
Oh, the first part was true to be sure, but the second part of that statement was false, and the Father would NOT have it! Listen…
“But the father said…BUT the father said…to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry. [Luke 15:22-24]
If you are still praying this way (“Oh God, I’m not worthy…”) in an attempt of humility, then instead of saying “I’m worth nothing and You are worth everything”, why not agree with God and say “I’m worth something, but You are worth infinitely more” or “thank you Lord I have worth, but only because You have given it to me!”
If you still speak of yourself as unworthy, then complete the sentence: I am unworthy of _________? What? His love? His forgiveness? His salvation? His tender mercies? Being called His son? Unworthy of what exactly, then? You can’t just say “I’m unworthy.” Fill in the blank, and then see what God’s Word has to say about whether it is true or not.
The word unworthy appears a handful of times in the New Testament, and always in a negative connotation. That is, it is used in a way which you would not want said of you.
Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said (speaking to the Jews), “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.[Acts 13:46]
Some people reject the gospel and judge themselves unworthy of everlasting life? Did YOU reject the gospel? Are YOU worthy of everlasting life? If you received the gospel of Jesus Christ YOU ARE WORTHY. Say it: I believe Jesus, my Lord and Savior, the Son of the one true living God, died a substitutionary death for me and became sin on my behalf, and rose again; therefore, I am worthy of everlasting life!
Maybe you struggle with this seemingly humble approach of calling yourself “unworthy” because of the passage in Luke 17:7-10. Many Christians feel they are commanded to speak this way of themselves because of this passage. I want to show you 3 reasons this passage should not be thought of as instructing in that regard.
- The word unworthy–as appears in some translations–is NOT the proper word, so we would be wrong to use it.
- Jesus was not speaking to His disciples on this point, but the pharisees.
- This teaching (only found here, if it were true) would contradict the numerous passages which instruct us otherwise.
Okay, now that you see where we are headed, here is the verse:
“Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come immediately and sit down to eat’? But will he not say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink’? He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.'” [Luke 17:7-10 NAS]
The NLT version reads this way:
In the same way, when you obey Me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.'” [Luke 17:10 NLT]
Just for the record, the word “Me” is not in the Greek text! Reading the NLT, you couldn’t help but come to the conclusion that Jesus is telling His followers (those who obey Him) to say this sort of thing as they obey Him. Jesus is not talking about obedience to Him, but keeping the law. This becomes apparent once you see that Jesus is addressing the Pharisees, and what other scriptures say happens to men who wear the label “unworthy slave/servant.”
The NAS translation of the Bible uses the phrase “unworthy slave”, and similarly, the ESV and NIV use the term “unworthy servant.” However, the KJ, NKJ, and Young’s translations have “unprofitable servant” there. The Greek text says “achreios doulos.” The Greek text will support the proper rendering of unprofitable here vs. unworthy or worthless. Had the Greek said “anaxios doulos” then it would have said unworthy or worthless. Acts 13:46 (above) does use the word anaxios, for example.
Why does this matter? There is a difference between unworthy and unprofitable. Something can not profit but still be of worth, to profit means to increase over the original value invested. Think about it, if you paid 2 bucks for a dollar coin, you were unprofitable, but you still have something of worth.
Terms aside, was Jesus instructing the disciples to make this confession?
- First note there is a larger audience than just the apostles for this passage. This address of Jesus spans chapters 15, 16 and 17
- The various references to pharisees, disciples, and apostles is just to record who was asking the questions. Jesus often addressed the entire group with His answers (example: Luke 16:1 and 14), and probably with some pointing fingers to identify the particular sub-group He had in mind.
- Because of v5, the assumption is that v6-10 are responding to them, but there is no need to draw that conclusion. The reply in verse 6 relates to it, but verses 7-10 can hardly be said to answer the request to increase their faith, so why should it be assumed that the audience is limited to the apostles?
- One more thing to note here: did the apostles lead life-styles that had them with servants at their disposal? Unlikely. Probably the pharisees were the target of this passage.
When it comes right down to it, whether the phrase is rendered unprofitable servant or worthless slave, is almost beside the point. The real matter is are believers to identifiy themselves with this kind of person? I believe not for reasons already cited, but more so because of this: that same word pair appears only one other place.
You DO NOT want to be considered by God to be a worthless slave or unprofitable servant! But don’t take my word for it, consider the parable of the talents–the only other place Jesus uses the term “worthless slave” or “unprofitable servant”
“Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. [Matthew 25:30 NAS]
From the parable of the talents, it is clearly expected that Christians are to increase in net worth: talents, gifts, kingdom increases, etc. That is to say, at the very least we are not to be considered unprofitable servants, and much more so, unworthy servants. In other words, unprofitable is bad, but unworthy is worse!
Some Christians get bogged down because of the following passage:
Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” [Luke 18:9-14]
Confessing your sins to God is the way to obtain forgiveness. That is why the man went home justified. If you have sinned and have yet to repent or confess it to God, then you are a sinner who needs to get right with God. Once you have done that you are no longer a sinner! But asking God to have mercy because you have sinned is not the same as saying I’m unworthy!
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. [Romans 5:8]
Did you catch that? Were.
Here’s another angle. If Christians are truly to beat their chests and claim unworthiness like some say the tax collector was doing here (again, he wasn’t), then should that apply to only the bad Christians or even the best ones? Did you know there were people in the church at Sardis who could say “We are worthy”? As a matter of fact, had this group of believers said “We are unworthy”, not only would they have been lying, but they would have made Jesus out to be a liar! See for yourself, and remember this is Jesus Himself speaking:
You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. [Revelations 3:4,5]
Listen to these:
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called [Eph 4:1]
that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing [Him], being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; [Colossians 1:10]
that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. [1 Thessalonians 2:12]
How can you walk worthy if you are not worthy? You can’t. But He wants you to walk worthy, so what is going on? You are worthy, but you have a choice: see yourself that way and walk that way–or not.
As a man thinketh, so is he. [Proverbs 23:7 KJV]
Definitions for unworthy: Insufficient in worth; undeserving. Lacking value or merit; worthless. Not suiting or befitting.
Are you worthless? I wouldn’t spend one dime for something that was worthless, but for something of value I might part with a few bucks or maybe even thousands.
for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. [Luke 19:10]
Why? Because it was of value to Him. You, every one of you, are of value to Him!
“Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” [Mat 6:26-30
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. [Matthew 13:45-46]
Could it be that God sees YOU as a pearl of great price? Did Jesus not go and sell all that he had to purchase you?
For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. [1 Corinthians 6:20]
You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. [1 Corinthians 7:23]
You were bought at a price. The King of Kings poured out His blood to purchase you. Tell me you are unworthy. No, it is not true. You were created in His image and bought with His blood. You are redeemed. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so! Say it: I am redeemed. I’ve been bought, therefore I am worthy!
Peter and John were arrested for healing a cripple outside of the temple gate. The Jewish leaders of the community threatened and beat them telling them to stop preaching The Way of Jesus.
So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. [Acts 5:41]
Oh, surely you want Him to see YOU as worthy, don’t you?? I know I do! Then we ought to walk that way.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; [Psalm 139:16-18]
That’s right. God is thinking of you. A lot. You are worthy of His thoughts. See yourself worthy and live in a proper response.
If you are a believer, YOU ARE WORTHY! God is wearing a shirt with YOUR name on it. Next time you’re praying to Him or thinking about Him, try to picture it.
| “Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come immediately and [fn] sit down to eat’? | ||
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 Luk 17:8 |
“But will he not say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and properly [fn] clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and [fn] afterward you [fn] may eat and drink’? |
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Luk 17:9 |
“He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? |
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Luk 17:10 |
“So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.'” |
