Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all God's holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi...
Philippians 1:1 NIV
Paul is writing to a church he started in this place called Philippi (in Greece today - part of the Roman empire). This city was important to Rome as it controlled gold mines, & was on a major trade route. Retired Roman soldiers were sent there to live.
Paul writes to the church there and identifies himself & Tim as a servants of Jesus.
Doulos. Bond-slaves. Someone with no rights who belongs to another.
Paul's readers will have got that - for us to meet someone in the street and day "Hi, I'm a slave of Jesus" may not be helpful, but if I wrote to a church, my church, how would I introduce myself?
Name, age, marital status, job, course of study, where I come from...things I love doing... & somewhere down the list I might say "follower of Jesus".
For Paul, his relationship with Jesus was his key identifier, everything else was secondary & down the list.
How would things change if  we put "follower of Jesus" first?
#inthistogether