“And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.” (Mark 9:35 KJV)
“…servant of all.” Maybe you’ve noticed this too, but there are some real idiots out there. People who should have never been promoted past elementary school, but have somehow made it to great positions of power and influence. We hear relentlessly throughout scripture about the value of humility. This attribute of humility has got to be one of the most important concepts to understand from our perspective. Yet, what does being “servant of all” do for them? I mean, there’s the obvious answer in that it makes them even richer and more influential at our expense. Or is it at our expense? Sure, our time and talents could be invested in something that made more money or made us the central spot light; if fame and fortune were the name of the game. The more time that we spend with the Lord, the clearer we see that these are not the end goals. There is an actual end goal and that is found in love. Again, not “desire” or “tolerance”, but in a relationship that shows patience with an end goal of seeing someone improve their relational skills with another. Improve in the sense that their ability to connect is more real and less shallow. The goodness in them is more genuine and less a credit to a balance somewhere. The kindness is because they are realizing that they are a work of God and not a work of themselves. Those who serve are in the very best position to model this, to offer a witness of this, and provide an example to follow. Now who’s the greatest? The one who let go of greatness to reach another has become the greater even if the other never grasps the extent of the offer. In fact, we are now in the best position to be taught by our Lord. Now all those verses about persecution begin to make more sense. It’s not always the persecution for standing up for what is right (though please do), but the roughage that one often endures because they are willing to stoop to give another an example of what real people and real relationships are. It’s more than just not loving the world. It’s really about learning to love as the Father does.
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15 KJV)