Jesus' Top Twelve
They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?" But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.
Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."
If you follow the NFL football, you've heard a lot of talk this last year about whether the New England Patriots are the greatest team ever. Many commentators have said that if they go undefeated and win the Super Bowl this weekend, they will have proved themselves the best in NFL history.
It's fun to get sports fans arguing about what teams or players are "the greatest." You'll hear a lot of the same passion in the next couple of months about the best movies, CDs, and TV shows of the last year.
Everybody wants to be the best at something. Sports and business and even academics all turn out rankings. Someone is always on top -- and that's a good thing. Competition is healthy, and it motivates us to work harder, to be better than someone else.
So what's the problem with the disciples arguing about which one of them was best, each making his case for why he was closer to Jesus, more valuable to the mission, better at understanding Jesus' hard teachings, able to gather the most sick and lame and blind people for healing?
Whatever the problem with campaigning for COTY (Christian of the Year), you can tell the disciples felt pretty ugly about it. That's why they didn't answer when Jesus asked what they'd been arguing about. And then He gave them this weird and beautiful and head-spinning answer:
Jesus' point was that His followers would be ranked by how committed we are to making it our job to help everyone in our circle of influence do what they do better. That's what a servant does, after all. He gets paid to help his employer succeed. The "great" Jesus-followers do the same thing — help each other get ahead.
Notice something huge here: Jesus does NOT take away competition as a motive for doing better. In fact, He turns the heat way up for those driven to compete. He just changes the rules. He says there will be a champion — the person who best serves everyone else, who most sacrifices his or her own agenda to turn all the other Jesus-followers into winners.
So get your game face on. Think you can out-serve me? Are you going to talk that smack in my house? Bring it, brother! Right now. Go: Can I get you a beverage? Need a blanket or something? Let me get the door for you? You're carrying by backpack? Ooh, good one. I can top it, though. I'm going to mow your lawn. Ha!
Okay, that's a little weird, but it's kind of the idea. Can we out-serve each other? And imagine if every single one of us lived that way. No need would go unmet anywhere in the church. We'd all be doing things for each other even before we knew we needed them done because everyone wants to be a champion servant. Who wouldn't want to live in that community?
Unfortunately, very few of us are even suited up for the game. Maybe it's time for us to start thinking about how to serve somebody in a new way. There will be prizes.
Final thought for all of you thinking, "That's they wrong motive, dude!" I do take Jesus at His word. I believe the biggest servants really will be first in heaven. But something strange happens when you get into the game of competitive servant-hood. Your motive starts spinning. You start rooting for all the other teams. You wake up one morning and realize you're not so interested in being the champ as you are in really actually seeing everyone else come out on top. So just when you stop caring about winning the servant trophy is when you have the best shot at getting your name on it.
What a great game.
Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."
—Mark 9:33-37
If you follow the NFL football, you've heard a lot of talk this last year about whether the New England Patriots are the greatest team ever. Many commentators have said that if they go undefeated and win the Super Bowl this weekend, they will have proved themselves the best in NFL history.
It's fun to get sports fans arguing about what teams or players are "the greatest." You'll hear a lot of the same passion in the next couple of months about the best movies, CDs, and TV shows of the last year.
Everybody wants to be the best at something. Sports and business and even academics all turn out rankings. Someone is always on top -- and that's a good thing. Competition is healthy, and it motivates us to work harder, to be better than someone else.
So what's the problem with the disciples arguing about which one of them was best, each making his case for why he was closer to Jesus, more valuable to the mission, better at understanding Jesus' hard teachings, able to gather the most sick and lame and blind people for healing?
Whatever the problem with campaigning for COTY (Christian of the Year), you can tell the disciples felt pretty ugly about it. That's why they didn't answer when Jesus asked what they'd been arguing about. And then He gave them this weird and beautiful and head-spinning answer:
"If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."So is Jesus saying the 1-15 Miami Dolphins should be crowned champs? Not exactly. They're just last because they got beat even though they wanted to win. In Jesus' math, they'd be first if they'd come in last by voluntarily working to help every other team in the league more successful. Dolphins fans might claim that's what they were doing, but the attitude is a little different.
Jesus' point was that His followers would be ranked by how committed we are to making it our job to help everyone in our circle of influence do what they do better. That's what a servant does, after all. He gets paid to help his employer succeed. The "great" Jesus-followers do the same thing — help each other get ahead.
Notice something huge here: Jesus does NOT take away competition as a motive for doing better. In fact, He turns the heat way up for those driven to compete. He just changes the rules. He says there will be a champion — the person who best serves everyone else, who most sacrifices his or her own agenda to turn all the other Jesus-followers into winners.
So get your game face on. Think you can out-serve me? Are you going to talk that smack in my house? Bring it, brother! Right now. Go: Can I get you a beverage? Need a blanket or something? Let me get the door for you? You're carrying by backpack? Ooh, good one. I can top it, though. I'm going to mow your lawn. Ha!
Okay, that's a little weird, but it's kind of the idea. Can we out-serve each other? And imagine if every single one of us lived that way. No need would go unmet anywhere in the church. We'd all be doing things for each other even before we knew we needed them done because everyone wants to be a champion servant. Who wouldn't want to live in that community?
Unfortunately, very few of us are even suited up for the game. Maybe it's time for us to start thinking about how to serve somebody in a new way. There will be prizes.
Final thought for all of you thinking, "That's they wrong motive, dude!" I do take Jesus at His word. I believe the biggest servants really will be first in heaven. But something strange happens when you get into the game of competitive servant-hood. Your motive starts spinning. You start rooting for all the other teams. You wake up one morning and realize you're not so interested in being the champ as you are in really actually seeing everyone else come out on top. So just when you stop caring about winning the servant trophy is when you have the best shot at getting your name on it.
What a great game.
posted by Christopher Lyon at
9:17 PM
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