21 Nov Servanthood > Stardom
We live in a day where celebrity is celebrated. If you’re rich, beautiful, and powerful, it seems you’ve pretty much got life by the tail.
Now, I’m certainly not suggesting that great achievement should not be celebrated. But I do believe that our focus on what is ‘great’ has gotten a bit off. We tend to focus on being great in the eyes of people instead of in the eyes of God.
When we look at the Bible, we see that this hasn’t changed much. In Mark 10, we are told of a time the disciples got into an argument about who was going to be the greatest among them. When Jesus heard them, He called them together.
He corrected them, saying, “Those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their higher officials lord it over them.”
In other words, the world is full of people who like power because they like what people will do for them when they have it.
But Jesus made it clear that that’s not what He wanted for His disciples.
In Verses 43-44 He said, “Among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else.”
Jesus was getting the message across that in God’s Kingdom, greatness is measured by servanthood, not stardom. With Him, what we become will never be more important than who we become and how we treat the hearts of those around us.
What greater man to exemplify this than Jesus himself? Paul tells us in Philippians 2:5-10 why Jesus is the perfect picture of someone who valued servanthood over stardom.
See, Jesus was the very star of Heaven, but instead of living in that stardom, He adopted the heart of a servant. He chose to serve all of us by making the ultimate sacrifice—dying a grueling death for our sins.
He didn’t have to. And I’m sure there are times that He felt that He didn’t want to. But He did. Why? Because He valued greatness in God’s eyes over greatness in man’s eyes. He valued servanthood over stardom.
Besides the ultimate portrayal of servanthood—His death—Jesus showed His heart for people many times. One of my favorites was right before He was betrayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. He asked His disciples to sit (even the one who was about to betray him!), and He washed their feet.
What was Jesus saying to them by doing this? That He knew they were about to enter a tough time following His death, and He wanted to be sure their focus was right. He wanted them to focus not on being the greatest preacher, but on being the greatest servant.
What do you value today? Stardom or servanthood? Let’s be ‘great’ at serving each other, and see how much more fulfilling life will be!