If you will read this, take it to heart and apply it to your life you will, in the end, be happier.
Today at our church's meeting these verses in Matthew were briefly brought up. Matt 20:26b+ ...but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: 28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
As I looked at this and pondered and I went back to 25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. 26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
It is this world's thought process to "be above that", it is wanting others to serve you and making sure that those others do "their fair share" of the unwanted jobs, if not making sure that they do more. This mentality is pervasive in government, business, and churches, and even manages to get into friendships and roommates and in marriages. These two thought processes are in direct opposition to each other. One promotes the welfare and promotion of self and the other the welfare and promotion of others. The first will naturally come from a person that is selfish and insecure the second from a giving and confident person. It is not that a selfish person can't learn to serve others or that a confident person will not demand to be served, but I get ahead of myself. In verse 26 it says that if someone wants to be the leader or "somebody" they should be the errand boy or waiter (the word minister in 26 is translated thus). In 27 He goes on to say "Hello, did you hear Me? If anybody wants to be somebody, try doing it by becoming a servant or a slave" (SMB Version). Mother Theresa is a modern day example of this attitude. The Catholic Church wanted to promote her, but her attitude was I will not leave Calcutta or its people. The world looks down on the servant, Jesus exalts them.
Those that abuse their position by using other people will, for the moment, have friends and gain what they want from that authority, but find that when the position is gone, so are the prestige and "friends". In the realm of friendships and marriage you can hold people captive or manipulate them by withholding affection, having an attitude or by using threats of various kinds, but the end will be loss of friendship, affection and/or bitterness.
"But what if someone abuses this and I end up doing it all?" And your point is? If you, as the servant, are complaining about being a servant, were you ever one to begin with? Your attitude is still "Me". I have found that even though you were the one that was abused to begin with (by you doing more than others and not complaining or manipulating others because you are doing it), that by your example, the attitudes of others will eventually turn around . You will have a reward if not in this life, you will have it in the next. There is great happiness in a household when the people there all have this serving-others attitude. Sometimes those hardest to serve are those you live with.
There is a teaching in many churches however, that opposes Jesus' words. Those teaching will cite Joshua and Elisha. See, they were the servant to the "big kahuna" (man of God). "If you want to become a leader in this organization you must serve me". It may not be said that directly, but that is the end of the teaching. These "servings" can range from carrying their Bible or luggage, to cleaning their house or washing cars. It is not that these services are getting done, but it is wrong when people are taught to serve those in authority. Where did Jesus ever teach that? Jesus said in another place "If you do it unto the least of the brethren you do it unto me". Above in verse 28 He said "Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister" So, if His attitude was to be a servant and to do it to the least, who are you to insist to be served without serving others yourself? It is not that Jesus refused to be served (ex. Mary washing His feet) but his attitude and practice was one to serve others.
"But, even the apostles said, 'We should not be waiting on tables but in the Word and teaching'". Were the apostles always right? Seems they missed it here. How about Peter, that went to Galatia and caused a division within the church until Paul had to openly rebuke him. Didn't Jesus tell them to be witnesses throughout the area, but they decided to stay in Jerusalem until the persecution got too much to stay. The apostles were not infallible.
In the end it boils down to what is more important you or them. In 1Corinthians it says "Love does not seek the promotion of self, but of others and it doesn't keep track of how much you do compared to others. (SMB Version again) Selah.
Today at our church's meeting these verses in Matthew were briefly brought up. Matt 20:26b+ ...but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: 28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
As I looked at this and pondered and I went back to 25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. 26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
It is this world's thought process to "be above that", it is wanting others to serve you and making sure that those others do "their fair share" of the unwanted jobs, if not making sure that they do more. This mentality is pervasive in government, business, and churches, and even manages to get into friendships and roommates and in marriages. These two thought processes are in direct opposition to each other. One promotes the welfare and promotion of self and the other the welfare and promotion of others. The first will naturally come from a person that is selfish and insecure the second from a giving and confident person. It is not that a selfish person can't learn to serve others or that a confident person will not demand to be served, but I get ahead of myself. In verse 26 it says that if someone wants to be the leader or "somebody" they should be the errand boy or waiter (the word minister in 26 is translated thus). In 27 He goes on to say "Hello, did you hear Me? If anybody wants to be somebody, try doing it by becoming a servant or a slave" (SMB Version). Mother Theresa is a modern day example of this attitude. The Catholic Church wanted to promote her, but her attitude was I will not leave Calcutta or its people. The world looks down on the servant, Jesus exalts them.
Those that abuse their position by using other people will, for the moment, have friends and gain what they want from that authority, but find that when the position is gone, so are the prestige and "friends". In the realm of friendships and marriage you can hold people captive or manipulate them by withholding affection, having an attitude or by using threats of various kinds, but the end will be loss of friendship, affection and/or bitterness.
"But what if someone abuses this and I end up doing it all?" And your point is? If you, as the servant, are complaining about being a servant, were you ever one to begin with? Your attitude is still "Me". I have found that even though you were the one that was abused to begin with (by you doing more than others and not complaining or manipulating others because you are doing it), that by your example, the attitudes of others will eventually turn around . You will have a reward if not in this life, you will have it in the next. There is great happiness in a household when the people there all have this serving-others attitude. Sometimes those hardest to serve are those you live with.
There is a teaching in many churches however, that opposes Jesus' words. Those teaching will cite Joshua and Elisha. See, they were the servant to the "big kahuna" (man of God). "If you want to become a leader in this organization you must serve me". It may not be said that directly, but that is the end of the teaching. These "servings" can range from carrying their Bible or luggage, to cleaning their house or washing cars. It is not that these services are getting done, but it is wrong when people are taught to serve those in authority. Where did Jesus ever teach that? Jesus said in another place "If you do it unto the least of the brethren you do it unto me". Above in verse 28 He said "Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister" So, if His attitude was to be a servant and to do it to the least, who are you to insist to be served without serving others yourself? It is not that Jesus refused to be served (ex. Mary washing His feet) but his attitude and practice was one to serve others.
"But, even the apostles said, 'We should not be waiting on tables but in the Word and teaching'". Were the apostles always right? Seems they missed it here. How about Peter, that went to Galatia and caused a division within the church until Paul had to openly rebuke him. Didn't Jesus tell them to be witnesses throughout the area, but they decided to stay in Jerusalem until the persecution got too much to stay. The apostles were not infallible.
In the end it boils down to what is more important you or them. In 1Corinthians it says "Love does not seek the promotion of self, but of others and it doesn't keep track of how much you do compared to others. (SMB Version again) Selah.
An addendum to the perfect apostle theory. Paul and Barnabas argued so hard that they had to part ways. Both believed they were right to the point where they were unable to compromise. Paul years later admitted that his stance was wrong.
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