Luke 9:46-48

Luke 9:46-48 An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all — he is the greatest.”

Luke 22:24-25 Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.

Philippians 2:5-11 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

These are powerful scriptures, for they turn the world upside down. We should be servers rather than rulers. We should be as children instead of wise adults. We should be the least, not the greatest. But wait, Jesus says in the kingdom of God if you serve, you will be a ruler; if you are like a child, you will be a wise adult; and if you are the least, you will be the greatest. This is a conundrum for all of us, for greatness on Earth is determined by who scores the most touchdowns, who is the CEO, who is the best singer, who controls the destiny of many, who preaches the best message, and so on. But the scriptures indicate how much we serve others determines our greatness. Christ was such a servant, to the point of dying on the cross FOR HIS ENEMIES. Not many of us reach this degree of servanthood, yet the Bible says, Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.

How can our attitude be the same as Jesus Christ if we are but flesh? The only way our thoughts can be his is to have his nature within us. And praise God, Christians do have his nature because we have the Holy Spirit abiding within us. We can be like Christ if we submit to his will. One problem is that we are the administrators of his spirit: we can say yes or no to being like Christ. We can say no to the Holy Spirit's unction to become a servant or we can submit to his pleadings. As self-willed beings, we can go to work today, saying to ourselves, we deserve to be grumpy because we didn't have much sleep last night. We can be curt with our loved ones because we don't think they appreciate us enough. We can withhold our love and acceptance because we don't feel loved or accepted. We may have many excuses for not displaying God's characteristics to the world, yet He asks us by our own volition to allow his light to overshadow our lives. God never takes away our freewill; we are not automatons. Therefore, our constant struggle remains: Are we going to display our flesh or God's nature, and is our attitude Christ's or our own?

The above scriptures are powerful, for they can reveal our damaged spirits and change our lives for the better. Sin damages the human spirit, and the flesh normally becomes self-willed, self-indulgent. In spite of our human tendency to focus on self, Jesus asks each of us to center our thoughts and actions upon others: to serve rather than be served, to help rather than be helped. Can we do that today? Of course, but we must become obedient to his spirit, putting aside our flesh and its desires and becoming subservient to the LORD. Jesus came to serve, to bless, to proclaim God's favor on all mankind. We are to follow him and do likewise. When we welcome the weak, the little child in our lives, when we serve them, we are welcoming and serving Christ by displaying his nature and not our own. By serving, which is our reasonable sacrifice, we become great, for we allow Christ to minister to the weak, the hopeless, the lost of this world. Today let us take up the cross and follow him.