It Shall Not Be So Among You

Observe. Jesus says that those regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Then a sharp contrast: not so with you. Instead, greatness comes by becoming a servant, and being first comes by becoming slave of all.

Interpret. Jesus is not saying leadership is wrong. He appoints leaders, and the church will have them. He is distinguishing two ways of using position. One uses it to be served; the other uses it to serve. The word translated servant is the ordinary word for someone who waits on tables. The word translated slave is stronger, a person who belongs to others. Jesus deliberately reaches for the lowest words available.

Apply. Every Christian holds some position, at work, at home, in church, over a child or a team or a budget. The passage asks a simple diagnostic question of each one. Does this position make life easier for me or for the people under it? Christian leadership is measured from below.

Where do you hold authority, and who is served by how you hold it? What would one week of deliberately serving downward, rather than managing upward, change in that place?