Follow Jesus-Me!
“Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’”
Today’s Text: Matthew 20:17-28 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
Generally speaking, Jesus taught in parables. But as He was on the final leg of His journey to the cross, Jesus spoke to His disciples plainly about what would happen at His final Passover in Jerusalem.
This was now the third time that Jesus told His disciples about His fate. And yet, each time, the disciples didn’t quite grasp the plain meaning of what Jesus had told them. Or if they did, they seem to have forgotten the lessons that Jesus had taught them over the course of three years.
Matthew’s account is the only one that tells us that it was the mother of James and John who initiated the request to have her sons have the first and second positions of authority under Jesus in His kingdom. Somehow James and John—the “sons of thunder”—must have convinced their mother to make that request. But boys don’t become “sons of thunder” by accident. Their mother probably needed no convincing to go to Jesus with her sons.
It seems that they understood that Jesus was going to be resurrected, but they also must have believed that the Kingdom of Christ would begin on earth at that point. So they both wanted to be “the man” in charge under Christ.
Every once in a while, I come across ministers and even pastors who are like James and John. Sure, they have faith, and they love Jesus, but they also love to be the one in charge. I actually had a friend who admitted as much. He confided with me that he always wanted to be like the Godfather (of the Coppola movies). We were close back then, and I didn’t hold it against him at all. I still love the brother.
I think it’s more of a problem when there are pastors with that attitude. Because Jesus explicitly tells us that we shouldn’t have that attitude. Rather, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). Rather, followers of Jesus Christ should have the attitude of being servants. And honestly, most of us (myself included) find it much easier to serve Jesus (whom we cannot see) than to serve sinful, broken, and proud people (who are constantly in our faces).
Every once in a while, I will catch myself with this attitude, and it shows up when I am very excited about things that I am leading (those things feel very important), but less than half-hearted about initiatives that others are leading (why are we doing this?).
We all have that tendency, and Jesus says, “Stop it.” Everything that we do in the church is in service to Christ who leads us.
It takes a long time to build up that kind of culture in a church—and in ourselves. We have to suffer through a lot of stumbling on those matters. But churches do grow in maturity as we listen to Christ and reflect on our own shortcomings. And if we notice shortcomings in others, we need to chill out and give others the benefit of the doubt that the Holy Spirit is doing His work in them, as well.
Not that we shouldn’t hold people accountable (face to face). But we should never condemn them (especially behind their backs). We should love them (face to face and behind their backs).
Father, Your word is perfect. But Your word is so challenging for us. Each and every day, we fall short, especially when it comes to matters of relationships—family relationships and church relationships. I pray that Your word will sink deep into our hearts, and that our hearts would be fertile soil for Your word, so that it might sprout into a tree of life for ourselves and for others. For Your glory. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
