It is very interesting to me that when the King of Kings arrived on our planet in bodily form, having the highest and most authoritative position in the universe, He said that He had come to serve.
Knowing that people in the world were obsessed with personal significance, Jesus spent three years training His disciples to adopt the perspective of a servant. They were much more interested in sitting around discussing who would hold the highest position and have the most influence in Christ’s kingdom.
It was an instructive moment when Jesus took a towel and pail of water and washed His disciples’ feet to demonstrate the importance of serving others. It was a lesson they needed to learn. It is also a lesson that you and I need to learn – often over and over again.
In another context, where greatness was clearly the goal of all twelve disciples, Jesus said to them, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25-28).
To the Christian church at Philippi the apostle Paul wrote, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; so not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others . . . etc.” (Philippians 2:3-8).
The final compliment that Jesus will pay to His followers when we all stand before Him on Judgment Day will not be, “You worked hard and accumulated a lot of wealth while you were on earth!” It will be, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).
The men in the Promise Keepers movement understand the importance of servanthood. This outstanding organization has been so successful in recent years that it has received lots of attention from the secular media. Men from all across America gather periodically to worship God and commit themselves to basic biblical principles.
A television documentary a few years ago was devoted to the Promise Keepers movement. It included an account of the opposition by gay rights activists, abortion proponents, and a few representatives of the women’s liberation movement. Their opposition was based on the fact that they did not understood what the members of this outstanding organization believe about men being the spiritual leaders of their homes.
In the documentary one man was interviewed. He was shown in his home with his wife and children. He said to the interviewer, “While I am the spiritual leader in my family, I am also a servant to my wife.”
One news anchor, in his wrap-up discussion at the end of the documentary said, “I thought that was very interesting that he said he was the servant of his wife. Isn’t it an anomaly that one can be both a leader and a servant?” Yes, it is . . . especially if you have the mindset of the world in which we live. But if you know Christ, then you know that is exactly who He was in the days of His flesh – a servant. And it is to the goal of being a servant that He calls every single Christian. Service is best defined as love in work clothes.
The paradoxes in the Christian faith seem strange to many in our world. It is because they see them as contradictions. Believe it or not, the paradoxes taught by Jesus are true. For example:
Do you want to live? Die! (That is, die to selfishness and an over-sized sense of self-importance).
Do you want to be great? Become little!
Do you aspire to rulership? Become a servant!
If you are a dedicated and knowledgeable student of the Bible, such paradoxical truth will sound perfectly understandable. If you have no knowledge of how Christ lived or what He taught, it will likely sound strange or even borderline deranged.
How does it sound to you? Perfectly sensible? Strange or even borderline deranged? Your answer will reveal a lot more than you realize about what your priorities are.
The Paper Pulpit 
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