“They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, [Jesus] 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.’ He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.’” (Mark 9:33-37, NIV)
Can’t get much uglier than that. Grown men, close friends even, jockeying for position in God’s kingdom. This is junior high locker room talk. Silly stuff. But it’s what happened and Jesus confronts it. The disciples are all a bit sheepish when he asks about what they were talking about on the road. They know intuitively that Jesus isn’t going to like what he hears. Never mind the fact that he already knows what they were grappling over.
Since no one will speak up, Jesus sits down with them and teaches them a lesson in kingdom greatness.
“If you want to be first, be last.” Don’t promote yourself. Don’t look for ways to be in charge. Don’t demand service.
“If you want to be first, be the servant of all.” Humility is the mark of someone great in God’s eyes. The greatest Christ-followers look an awful lot like slaves.
Is this a lesson each of us needs to learn? Yes! We need to train ourselves to take the low spot rather than the top. We need to train ourselves to look out for the needs of others rather than our own. We need to forget our fear of being trampled on and follow our Master’s directions.
Now, think about this for a second. If every believer sought greatness God’s way – by becoming a servant – every believer’s needs would be met. Needs for love. Needs for acceptance. Needs for compassion. Needs for tolerance. Needs for support. Needs for encouragement. Needs for companionship. Needs for grace. Needs for forgiveness. Needs for food.
If every believer served every other believer, there would be no fear or worry for tomorrow. There would be no want.
And when the Holy Spirit came, that’s what the church was like in the early days.
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:42-47, NIV)
You can see why the church grew, can’t you? Why people believed? Love, the kind of selfless, serving love everyone longs for, was being practiced. The transformation brought about by the filling of the Holy Spirit was evident for all. Believing in Jesus made a difference and others wanted what the believers had. Not their physical possessions, but their life-changing God!
Is this a picture of the church today? Is your church like this? In some ways, it probably is. In other ways, maybe not.
Without pointing fingers at anyone but yourself, is there something you could do to make your church more like the attractive first church? How can you serve others? What can you give? Who needs what you have to offer? And don’t just think money or food or what have you. Think about your spiritual gifts. Use them for God’s glory and for the benefit of the church. That’s why you’ve been given them. Be the servant of all as you display God’s work in your life and bless others. Doing so, in complete humility, will keep your church free of jealous infighting.
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