May 19, 2016

We Are To Serve

43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” -- Mark 10:43-45

The other day I was minding my own business while driving to town. Unfortunately, someone else decided to insert themselves into my business.

The road narrows, going from two lanes to one. No problem for most of us. Everyone merged accordingly. Except for the tan Expedition. That driver was determined to be first. She almost ran me off the road and came close to rear ending the car in front of me.

I have no idea what her hurry was all about. But I wonder if it was worth almost causing two accidents. And I wonder if she ever considered that she was to share the road and obey the traffic signs. Somehow I doubt it.

No matter what is going on in life -- whether it’s traffic or job or family -- somebody always wants to be first. The problem comes when their desire tramples all over the rights of others.

Do you remember this story in the Bible? John and James wanted to sit on either side of Jesus when He entered His glory. They wanted Jesus to promise -- before they even asked Him. You can imagine how well that went over with the other 10 disciples.

That’s what happens when we try to elevate ourselves over others. It causes dissention. It causes hard feelings. And it makes us look pretty bad.

In the world of our faith, we are called to serve others. It’s what Jesus did and it’s what He expects us to do. Except we don’t do servanthood well, do we? We want to lead and give orders but that’s not the way of Jesus.

In the way of Jesus, we let the other cars go ahead and merge in to traffic. In the way of Jesus, we support and help others to be successful. In the way of Jesus, we serve without expecting anything in return.

It’s something to think about the next time we are trying to win at the expense of someone else.