Joshua 24 is the serving chapter of the Bible. The words serve, served, and serving show up sixteen times in one chapter. That’s the most in any chapter of the Bible. Verses fourteen and fifteen alone hold seven of those sixteen.
One truth runs through the whole chapter.
Serving is a choice.
Joshua 24:14-15, ”Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
There is no option to not serve. We all serve someone. The only question is who. Joshua made the choice for himself and for everyone living under his roof.
The chapter then walks through a back and forth from verse sixteen to verse twenty-five, where Joshua warns the people and the people commit to serving the LORD. By the time you get to the end of the chapter, Joshua sets up four pieces that close the whole scene.
Joshua 24:26-27 ”And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the LORD. And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God.”
Notice the four things Joshua sets up.
- He wrote the covenant in the book
- He set a great stone
- He put the stone under an oak
- He placed it by the sanctuary of the LORD
Every one of those has an echo into the New Testament. The book points forward to the Scriptures we hold today. The oak points to the tree where Christ was hung. The stone points to the Rock of Ages who is Christ Himself. The sanctuary points to the local church where the covenant truth is kept and proclaimed.
The chapter all about serving is centered on a house serving the Lord, anchored to a Scripture, a Tree, a Rock, and a Sanctuary. And where you put the rock matters! The rock goes under the tree because we only meet Jesus through the sacrifice of Him hanging on the tree.
Then we get to the New Testament and we meet a family that lived this out.
1 Corinthians 16:15-16, ”I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints,) That ye submit yourselves unto such, and to every one that helpeth with us, and laboureth.”
Four things stand out about the house of Stephanas:
Family and Serving
Paul calls them the house of Stephanas, just like Joshua said “me and my house.” Same word.
My family is my first ministry. A Christian’s first ministry is the people who live under his own roof. If we are winning souls everywhere but losing our own family, we have the order backwards. But putting your family first doesn’t mean sitting on the couch scrolling your phone while your kids play on an iPad. It means leading them into the work of the Lord together.
Scripture gives us three facts about the Stephanas household:
- They were the firstfruits of Achaia, which means they were among the first people saved in the entire region. There was no established church when they got saved. No building, no programs, no nursery, no greeters, no soul-winning teams.
- They addicted themselves to the ministry of the Christians, which means the ministry was the central work of their life.
- And Paul lumps them in with the same category as those who help and labor with him, putting them right next to the missionaries and church planters.
A firstfruit, church-planting, laboring family does what laboring families do. They go soul-winning together, open their home, disciple new converts and helped missionaries. They meet practical needs. They greet and welcome. They set up and clean up. They pray together. They serve where the need is, and they raise their kids in the middle of it.
The Stephanas house wasn’t a one-off. God moves through families all through the Bible. Joshua’s house chose to serve the LORD. Cornelius was a devout man who feared God with all his house. Lydia and her household were baptized together, and she opened her home to Paul. The Philippian jailer believed and his whole house was saved before sunrise. God’s pattern is consistent. Saved houses serve together.
Firstfruit and Serving
We are all firstfruit in some way. You might be the first in your family to get saved, which means you broke the chain and every generation after you stands on what God did in you. You might be the one who reaches a firstfruit in someone else’s family. You might be the first Christian witness in a workplace, a team, or a neighborhood. You might be the first family in a church plant, or the first volunteer for a new ministry.
The firstfruit was never the whole harvest. It was the pledge that more was coming.
1 Corinthians 15:23, ”But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.”
First-generation Christians are firstfruit, and they are usually excited about it because they know what they got saved out of. Second-generation Christians should be generating the most firstfruit and be the most excited about it, because we were raised in the truth and we know what it cost the generation before us.
Focus and Serving
Church wasn’t a side thing for the Stephanas house. It was the first thing on their calendar.
The word Paul uses for “addicted themselves” is strong. They devoted themselves, they appointed themselves, they made the ministry the fixed thing of their life. Everything else worked around the ministry, not the other way around. If you have ever been addicted to something, you know nothing gets in its way.
If we aren’t careful, we can flip the priorities in our life. Work goes on the calendar first, then kids’ sports, then vacations, then social events, and church gets the leftovers. The Stephanas house didn’t operate that way. An addicted Christian puts church on the calendar first, not last.
Sunday morning is non-negotiable. Soul-winning is on the weekly schedule. Thursday night is protected from the boss. Vacation is planned around the church schedule. They give first to God and budget the rest. They look for ways to serve, not excuses to skip.
Matthew 6:33, ”But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Colossians 3:23, ”And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.”
What are we addicted to? Whatever we can’t go a week without or whatever we build our schedule around. Whatever we would rearrange our life for. Stephanas was addicted to the ministry.
Following and Serving
The Stephanas house were leaders in the church without a title. Paul tells the Corinthian church to submit to them. They weren’t apostles, pastors, or elders by office. They earned a place of spiritual influence by service.
You know how you become a leader without a title? Win people to Christ and disciple them. That is the whole secret. The Christians who are followed are the ones who are reaching the lost and building them up after they’re saved. We don’t have to wait for a position, be voted in, or be ordained. We just have to do the work the Lord left for every Christian to do.
Matthew 28:19-20, ”Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”
Paul told the church to submit to the Stephanas house because they had a track record.
Greatness in the kingdom of God flows in the opposite direction of the world. The world says climb and the Lord says kneel. The world says push to the front and the Lord says go to the back, pick up a towel, and wash some feet. The Stephanas house lived this verse without ever quoting it.
The Aim
The house of Stephanas gives us the pattern. They served as a family. They were firstfruit and brought a harvest. They were addicted, not casual. And they led without ever holding a title.
We should aim to be addicted to the ministry.
