Rooted: Do I serve others as Christ did or just myself like Judas?

The call to be rooted in service begins with the question, “Do I really wanna grow in my faith?” Colossians 2 says that receiving Christ means walking in him, rooted and built up in him, not just liking the idea of growth. Spiritual growth costs something. The yellow belt wants the black belt until the repetition, the punches, and the grind show what it really takes.

The story of the Shaolin student and the rice shows how the stuff that feels worthless can make all the difference. Service often feels like that. The repeated, unseen, uncomfortable acts may be the very things God uses to build strength into the soul.

Service is not just holding a door, cutting grass, giving money, or being polite. Christian service is not mainly an action, because the same action can come from pride, guilt, control, or obedience. Christ-shaped service leaves a person full in Christ, not empty and bitter. Philippians 2 gives the mindset of Jesus, who was equal with God and yet emptied himself, taking the form of a servant.

Jesus shows that mindset in John 13. The Lord of glory gets up from the table, lays aside his outer garment, ties a towel around his waist, pours water into a basin, and washes filthy feet. The towel stands between the nastiness of the road and the cleanliness of the house. The lowliest servant’s job becomes the visible example of the Son of God.

Peter’s response exposes the way human beings resist the service of God. Peter sounds reverent when he says Jesus should never wash his feet, but reverence without obedience is not righteousness. Jesus answers hard: “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” Peter then swings to the other extreme, asking for hands and head too. The issue is not giving God less than he wants or more than he wants, but obeying what he commands.

God calls his children to serve, and he does not need permission to assign the work. Service must come from listening to him, not just doing whatever feels impressive, sacrificial, or spiritual. The obedient follower may not see what God is doing in the moment, but God often works quietly before revealing what he has built.

Judas stands as the warning. Judas served with hidden motives, always measuring Jesus by what Jesus could do for him. Judas complained about wasted perfume, not because he loved the poor, but because his heart was already exposed. The contrast is simple and sharp: service like Jesus sacrifices reputation, wants, and comfort; service like Judas protects the self while sounding spiritual.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Growth has a real cost. [02:21] Spiritual growth cannot live on desire alone. The yellow belt image exposes the difference between wanting maturity and submitting to the repetition that forms it. God often uses ordinary disciplines, repeated obedience, and uncomfortable faithfulness to build what excitement alone can never produce. [02:21]
• 2. Service reveals the heart. [21:15] Christian service is never just the outward deed. The action and the attitude together reveal whether the heart is serving Christ or feeding resentment, pride, or control. God is not impressed by busy hands that carry a bitter spirit. [21:15]
• 3. Obedience is better than extremes. [35:44] Peter first refuses Jesus, then asks for more than Jesus commanded. Both responses miss the point because God is not looking for dramatic control, but surrendered obedience. True service neither holds back from fear nor rushes ahead to feel spiritual. [35:44]
• 4. God works before it shows. [33:00] The obedient follower may not see fruit right away. God often forms strength quietly, beneath the surface, while the work still feels repetitive or hidden. Trust does not demand constant evidence, but it keeps obeying while asking God for sight. [33:00]
• 5. Judas served himself, not Christ. [48:14] Judas heard the same words and saw the same power, but his service was bent around his own expectations. His concern for the poor sounded righteous, but Scripture exposes the hidden motive. Service that uses Jesus for personal gain is not service to Jesus at all.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:38] - Do You Really Want To Grow?
• [01:58] - The Yellow Belt Problem
• [03:28] - Rice, Repetition, And Hidden Strength
• [05:16] - What Christian Service Is Not
• [07:06] - Serving Like Jesus Or Judas
• [08:12] - The Mind Of Christ
• [13:18] - Jesus Takes The Servant’s Place
• [15:55] - The Filth, The Feet, And The Towel
• [20:46] - A Servant’s Heart Revealed
• [28:10] - Peter Resists Jesus’ Service
• [35:44] - No Share Without Obedience
• [37:32] - Not Less, Not More, But What God Commands
• [46:28] - Judas And Self-Serving Religion
• [49:20] - Rooted In Christlike Service

Bible Reading

Colossians 2:6-7
“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” [00:12]

Philippians 2:5-8
“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” [08:12]

John 13:1-17
“Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, do you wash my feet?’ Jesus answered him, ‘What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.’ Peter said to him, ‘You shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered him, ‘If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.’ Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!’ Jesus said to him, ‘The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.’ For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, ‘Not all of you are clean.’ When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, ‘Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.’” [13:18] [15:55] [20:46] [28:10] [35:44] [37:32]

Observation questions

1. In Colossians 2:6-7, what words are used to describe how a believer is supposed to continue in Christ after receiving him?
2. In John 13, what specific steps does Jesus take before and during the washing of the disciples’ feet? [15:55]
3. What two things reveal what is really in a person’s heart when they serve? [21:15]
4. In Peter’s response to Jesus, what are the two opposite reactions he gives before Jesus corrects him? [35:44]

Interpretation questions

1. Philippians 2 says Christ emptied himself by taking the form of a servant. What does that show about the kind of attitude Christian service is supposed to come from? [08:12]
2. Jesus says, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” How does that help explain why obedience sometimes feels confusing or hidden in the moment? [33:00]
3. Peter first refuses Jesus and then asks for more than Jesus commanded. What does that reveal about the danger of trying to control obedience, whether by giving God less or more than he asks? [37:32]
4. Judas sounded spiritual when he talked about helping the poor, but his heart was wrong. How can a person do outwardly religious things while still serving self instead of Christ? [48:14]

Application questions

1. Growth in Christ costs something. Where is the cost of growth being felt most right now: consistency, humility, repetition, time, or discomfort? What kind of “yellow belt” frustration might be showing up? [02:21]
2. Some of the things that seem small, repetitive, or unseen may be the very things God uses to build strength. What ordinary act of obedience has started to feel pointless lately, and what might it look like to keep doing it in faith? [03:28]
3. Service is not just about the action but also the attitude. When serving goes unnoticed, unappreciated, or misunderstood, what tends to come out of the heart? Joy, bitterness, pride, resentment, control? [21:15]
4. Jesus served from fullness in the Father, not from a need to prove himself. Where is there a temptation to serve in order to be seen, thanked, needed, or thought well of? [49:20]
5. God often works before it shows. Is there an area where obedience has been hard because there is no visible fruit yet? What would trusting God in that place look like this week? [33:00]
6. Peter said no to Jesus, then swung to the other extreme. Is there a place where obedience is being resisted, or a place where too much is being taken on apart from God’s leading? [41:00]
7. Jesus-like service sacrifices comfort, wants, and reputation, while Judas-like service keeps asking what benefits the self. In one current relationship or ministry situation, which pattern seems closer to the truth? [49:20]