Heart of a Servant

Well, thank you very much, David. Beautiful job.

It's hard for our minds to conceive, but slavery is running rampant in this world. I think in many of the minds of people in the Western world, especially in America, we thought, well, slavery ended about 150 years ago with the Civil War.

When I went to Africa, took a trip to Ghana, I believe I had remarked to you, I saw the slave castle where the Europeans would load up slaves and take them across the oceans. And this castle was uniquely constructed. It was made out of huge blocks, stone blocks, or granite. There was no way that you could get through it. There was a huge cell area that you could run 200 or 300 people into. There were big iron gates at one end, and there was no way out. The only way out was through the wall at the opposite side. There was a hole just big enough for a person to go through. They would bring a ship right up next to that hole, and they would dock it. They would open the hole in the side of the wall, and they would go right into the ship. There was no other place to go. If you wouldn't go, they would push you, shove you, beat you, to make sure that you went into that. Well, I think for many of us, it's hard to imagine that, but modern-day slavery is running rampant. Slavery has always been a situation that's been prevalent in the world, and it's continuing today. Actually, it's continuing at a much bigger pace. Modern-day slaves can be found laboring as servants, or concubines in Sudan, as child and carpet slaves in India, or as cane cutters in Haiti, southern Pakistan, to name just a few places. According to the Anti-Slavery International, the world's oldest human rights organization, today there are over 20 million slaves that have been sold into slavery against their will. Where do these slaves go? You and I look around, we would say, well, I don't know anybody who's a slave, but yet slavery is practiced all over the world, especially you find in Africa and some of the Asian areas. Slave trade in Africa was officially banned in the 1880s, but forced labor continues to be practiced in West-Central Africa. UNICEF estimates that every year there are 200,000 children that are sold into slavery from this region, from this area. 200,000. In ten years, that's 2 million, and you can just multiply that out. These come from Benin and Togo, and they're sold as domestics into agriculture, sex industry of the wealthier neighboring countries, such as Nigeria and Gabon. In fact, sex trade or slavery is something that runs rampant around the world, where young girls are sold into slavery, as well as young boys, as sex objects. Now, you and I, thinking about that, would say, well, normally you'd rebel against the thought of slavery or servitude, yet I'd like for you to take a look at a scripture inspired by God to be penned. It's a prophecy concerning Jesus Christ, and it has to do with Him and His coming to this earth. It's recorded in the book of Isaiah, but it's also recorded in the New Testament in the book of Matthew. In Matthew 28, we'll begin in verse 15. If you return to Matthew 28, verse 15, you'll find Matthew 12, verse 15. I don't know if I said 28. Matthew 12, 15. You might find this better than 28. Notice verse 15. When Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there, and great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. And yet He warned them not to make Him known that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, verse 18, Behold, my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, and whom my soul is well pleased, I will put my spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles. So Jesus Christ is referred to here as the servant of God. Jesus Christ was a servant of God. He was also a servant of mankind. And so we find that when He came to this earth, He came to be a servant. He came to serve.

I brought out at the ministerial conference, and it's the same thing that we're going to touch on here today, that you and I have been called to become a servant, not just to serve. You know, a lot of times we hear the topic of servant leadership, and we think, well, yes, that means that we need to serve more. Well, it goes far beyond that. It's much more than just being a servant, or doing good deeds or good works. It means that you are a servant. You have that attitude. And you find that people serve for all kinds of reasons. Let's notice in Matthew 20, verses 25 and 26, what Christ said. Matthew 20, verses 25 and 26. This is after the disciples had argued, debated among themselves, disputed who was going to be the greatest, who was the best among them. Verse 25, Jesus called them to himself and said, I know that the rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it should not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. So the kingdom of God has different standards, and in the kingdom of God, if you want to be great, you must be a servant. And whoever desires to be first among you. So you want to be first. You want to be the most important. Let him be your slave. So we find slavery and servitude both mentioned here. A servant is what we are, or what we should be. We should have a servant's heart. We should have the very heart that Jesus Christ had. According to Vines, there are seven different words translated, servant or bond-servant in the Bible. The one used here is dulos, and the word dulos means a slave or a bond-servant.

One who is in servitude to another individual. You and I, at baptism, entered into a covenant to be the servant of God forever. Do you remember when you were baptized? Words to this effect. Have you repented of your sins? You're supposed to say yes. And have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? You say yes. Well, as a result of your repentance of your sins, which are the transgression of God's holy and righteous law, and your acceptance of Jesus Christ as your Lord and Master, and soon coming King. I now baptize you. So you see, all of us agreed, and we were baptized, that Jesus Christ would be our Lord. The word Master, that's what Lord means. He is our Master. We know His children, but yet the analogy is used in the Bible, in the Scriptures, to show that we are also servants, and that we are, if we truly are following God, want to become truly a slave, as far as our attitude and our approach. In Titus 1, verse 1, the Apostle Paul referred to himself in this way. Titus 1, verse 1, he says, Paul, a bondservant of God and an Apostle of Jesus Christ. So Paul declared himself to be a bondservant. A servant is what Paul was, and Apostle was his job. That was his responsibility.

I'm a pastor. That's my job. You may be a bricklayer. You may be a chemist. You could be an engineer. You may whatever. That's your job. Well, his job was to be an Apostle, but he was a bondservant of Jesus Christ. You and I, brethren, are to have the very mind of a servant. Something happens when you realize you're a servant. If you lived 150 years, 200 years ago in America, and you were a slave or a servant on a plantation, you picked cotton, you planted cotton, you worked on the Mississippi or whatever, you knew that you were a slave, and you have a different mentality than someone who is not a slave. Well, you and I, if we have the mind of a servant, something happens to us. We're a different person. We have a different outlook on life and on others. You and I have the heart, as we found out last week. We are to have the heart, a pure heart, but we're to have a heart. And the heart, the mind, is the center of an individual. It's the core of a person. It's where your thoughts and your emotions arise, and it determines our actions and what we're going to do. And so, our actions are either going to flow from a carnal mind, and all that that implies are from a converted mind that has the attitude and the approach that Jesus Christ had when He was on this earth. Because when He walked this earth, He was a servant. Christ's words clearly define His standard for leadership. He expects the shepherds of His flock, the ministry, to serve. Anything less is not according to the standard that He has set. Let's notice in 1 Peter chapter 4 beginning in verse 11, a scripture you probably have even forgotten about, but certainly applies to us today. 1 Peter 4, 11, If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. Speak as one who utters and speaks as God. So if anyone ministers, that means serve.

If anyone serves or ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies. Now God supplies us with gifts. There are spiritual gifts. Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, that God gives to us. God has given all of us talent. We all have certain abilities.

We're told here, according to the ability that God supplies, that you and I are to use them.

That in all things, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. See, Christ is to live within us, and so therefore God is glorified when we bring forth fruits through His or by His Spirit, to whom belongs the glory and the dominion forever and ever. So God is the one who does the serving. If Christ lives in us, then God is the one doing it.

The very nature of God is to serve, is to give, and God receives the credit. You know, any time we become concerned with receiving the praise and the credit, our approach is wrong. Our approach is totally wrong. We need to make sure that God gets the credit for whatever is accomplished. It's not us, it's God.

Now let's notice the attitude that Jesus Christ personally had when He came to the earth. Let's go back to Philippians 2 and verse 1. When Jesus Christ came to the earth, the very fact that He was willing to come to this earth, He set a standard, He set the tone for all humanity as to what it means to be truly a servant of God.

Philippians, beginning here in verse 1, chapter 2, verse 1, Therefore, He says, If there is any consolation in Christ, of any comfort of love, of any fellowship of the Spirit, of any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded.

So notice we're to be like-minded, having the same love being of one accord of one mind. So we're to have one attitude, one-mindedness. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition. Now why would He mention that? Because it's human, isn't it? To do things out of selfish ambition for what you can get, what I can get, to push the self forward or conceit. Conceit would mean somebody knows they've got abilities, they've got talents, look what I can do, they toot their own horn.

But notice it goes on to say, But in lowliness of mine, let each esteem the other better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interest of others. Now Paul here is begging, beseeching us to shed the pride, the selfish ambitions that we have and become like Christ, willing to serve the needs of all humanity. When Christ came to the earth, He came with that very attitude.

He's calling for us to have the attitude and character that Christ did. And that is the attitude that we've got to have to be able to rule in the world tomorrow, in the kingdom of God. And as you'll notice in verse 5, it says, It says, So if it's talking about having a lowliness of mine, and it's taming others better than yourself, what mine are we talking about? Well, it says, So you and I are to have the mind, the heart, the attitude, the approach that Jesus Christ had, when He was on the earth, and that He has today.

And you and I need to study the mind of Christ in order for it to be in us. How often do we go back to the four Gospels and we look at what was Jesus Christ thinking here? What was His approach to people? Do we try to discern why He said what He said? What motivated Him? Why did He react in a certain way to the religious leaders around Him?

And why did Christ do what He did? And that we learned from that. The study of servant leadership is to study that mind, to study that approach. And that's why we have four books in the Bible that too often we neglect. And we need to go back and read those quite often, because here was the living example on earth of a human being.

A perfect example of what it means to be a servant that all of us could learn from. Then going on in verse 6, we read about Christ, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. Remember, before He came to this earth, He had existed for all eternity. He was a spirit being, a glorified being, an all-powerful being, the one who had stepped out and God used to create everything that can be known.

So He was in the form of God. He was God. But He did not find it robbery or consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant. Now, how did He take on the form of a bondservant? Well, it goes on to say, coming in the likeness of men. Now, you just stop and think. Here's God, been in existence forever, all-powerful, radiant body. He has all power. He's divine. And all at once, He comes to this earth and becomes a little baby, grows up as a child, a teenager, young adult, becomes a man, lives 33 and a half years, never sin, always serving, always yielding to the Father, always giving the Father credit.

Not saying, I came to do my own thing, but He made Himself this way. He was willing to do that. So He showed by the very fact that He did that His willingness to take on and to have the attitude of a servant. To come from the divine glory and power down to a human being is quite a step down. Now, you and I are doing it in reverse. You and I start out human.

And yet, what we're striving for is to be in the Kingdom, to become a Son of God, to become like Christ is today. So we find, being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Verses 5-8 are probably the most insightful, powerful statement ever made about the heart and the mind of Jesus Christ. Because they reveal an intimacy into Christ, His thinking, His willingness, His actions to show what you and I ought to be willing to do. Anytime we think, well, you know, whatever we're doing is below our dignity, and we think, well, I can't do that.

We need to stop and think about Christ. What did He do? What was He willing to do?

Christ emptied Himself of His divinity. God is asking us to empty ourselves of our carnality and to take on His very mind and His very nature.

Jameson Fawcett Brown makes a comment about this section. He uses equality with God as an opportunity not for self-exaltation, but for self-abasement, or to empty Himself.

To explain how He took the form of a servant, it says, by being made in the likeness of man. So, how are you and I being expected to take the form of a servant? You and I are to be servants also. How do we accomplish that?

Well, by being made in the likeness of a child.

Now, there's really no comparison from coming from the divine to the human, but here we are as human, and God says, look to this little child down here as the way you should live, the attitude you should have, the approach that you should have.

Jesus Christ knew where He came from. He had come from eternity, eternal life with God. He knew what it meant to humble oneself to become as nothing. And when He became man, He became as nothing.

You and I, as Christians today, know where we came from, or you should know where you came from.

You came from a life of sin that leads to death, and God has called us out of that. He's called us to live a different way of life.

He's called us to follow Christ, to have His mind go in an opposite direction, and we become as nothing through the process of repentance and baptism.

See, Christ had already attained what we're striving for. He was there.

You and I are striving to become a part of the family of God, but in order to do it, we have to be able to humble ourselves. And God doesn't require anything of us that Christ was not willing to do Himself, because He humbled Himself. And you and I have to humble ourselves, but we humble ourselves through repenting, acknowledging our faults, our mistakes, our weaknesses, who we are, our sins.

And then, you're repenting of that and moving forward.

So we need to remember where we came from, and that is a major factor in our remaining humble, or growing in humility.

Jesus was, when He was on this earth, the greatest leader of all. He set that example.

And yet, it did not diminish the respect that people had for Him, the all they had for Him. When Christ spoke, He said He spoke as one with authority. He had authority. He was God. God in the flesh. So therefore, sometimes people think, well, if I'm humble, or I have an attitude of a servant, people are going to look down on me. I won't carry any authority. It's just the opposite. Your authority will be greater, because it is motivated and rises from a different perspective.

If Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and change is not, it's safe to assume, I think, that His nature, His character, and His methods of ruling will remain the same. So that what He taught His disciples will be what we will teach in the world tomorrow to all humanity, and will be the foundation on which the family of God, the kingdom of God, will rule. That we will rule from that perspective. We will be there to be servants of the people. And so when we're a king over five cities, ten cities, one city, whatever God gives us to do, we will get down with the people and teach them. We won't be on some high exalted throne as a high muckety-muck, saying, okay, all you down there, and you're giving orders, and we'll get down in the dirt and show people how to plant a crop. We'll explain to them how to do whatever it is that they have to do. And we will get down and teach and guide and lead them. And Jesus Christ will likewise. As Barkley states on this section, the greatest characteristics of Jesus' life were humility, obedience, and self-renunciation. He did not desire to dominate men, but only to serve them. He did not desire His own way, but only God's way.

He did not desire to exalt Himself, but only to renounce all His glory for the sake of men. And again and again in the New Testament, He is sure that only the man who humbles himself will be exalted. See, that goes to the opposite of human nature, doesn't it? People in the world brag about who they are, what they've done, what they've accomplished, and they're talking about it all the time. So people want to exalt themselves, and they think by so doing that they'll be admired. But God says if you want to be exalted, the way to do it is you humble yourself first, and He will exalt us. And so that's the principle that all of this is predicated on. Now let's go back to Mark 9, Mark 9, verse 33.

There were three occasions in Jesus Christ's ministry that we know of that are recorded that explain to the disciples, about being great where He explained and expounded this principle.

And this is the first one found here in Mark 9, 33. It's also found in Matthew 18. But let's notice in verse 13, He came to Capernaum, and when He was in the house, He asked them, What was it that you disputed among yourselves on the road? Well, He knew what they were talking about. He wasn't ignorant.

But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. They knew better than to say, Well, Christ, here's James saying, I thought I was the greatest, and I wanted to get it across to everybody else. They didn't think I was the greatest. John thought he was better than I am. Peter piped up and said, No, that's wrong. I'm the greatest. I mean, how do you discuss who's the greatest among you?

Well, they were arguing over this, or who was going to be the greatest. Maybe they were thinking down the road, Here we are, here's the Master, He's going to send us out, and one of us is going to be the greatest here. And so they were arguing over this. And He sat down and called to 12 and said, If anyone desires to be first, you want to be first, number one, He shall be last of all, and servant of all.

Uh-oh, this runs contrary to human nature. Then He took a little child, set him in the midst of them, and when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, Whoever receives one of these little children, in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me, but Him who sent me. So this was the first of several occasions where Christ had to deal with this, and this is a common human problem we all have to be on guard against, wanting to exalt ourselves, thinking, Well, I'm just not appreciated. People ought to appreciate me more. And we get our nose bent out of joint over these type of things.

As the Expositor Bible Commentary says, instead of contemplating Jesus' passion and suffering that was coming up, not only for Him, but was going to affect them, they had been occupied with a senseless argument about greatness. Since questions of this sort were common among the Jews of the day, the disciples' dispute showed that they were influenced by the culture of their time.

Are we ever influenced by the culture of our time, by what goes on in society around us? Wherever you look today, the emphasis is on what? On me, on my, on the self. You find it constantly in all of the ads. We're influenced by this culture. Many times we don't even recognize it. We don't see it. But it's there. Barclay says, it was not that Jesus abolished ambition. Rather, He recreated and sublimated ambition. For the ambition to rule, He substituted the ambition to serve.

Instead of being ambitious, I'm going to rule. I'm going to be over everybody. Well, it should be, I'm going to serve everybody. For the ambition to have things done for us, He substituted the ambition to do things for others. So the pivotal beginning point when discussing being a servant is always to understand humility. Humility is the very basis of it. The lesson here is one of genuine humility needed, which was by nature in the child that Christ gave.

As Barclay says, now a child has no influence at all. A child cannot advance a man's career nor enhance his prestige. A child cannot give us anything. It's the other way around. It is a society of the person who needs things that we must seek. So we have to have the attitude of seeking to help those truly in need. Matthew Henry's commentary says, little children have no great aims at great places or projects to raise themselves up in the world. They exercise not themselves in things too high for themselves. And we should be in like manner and behavior and quiet ourselves.

As children, our little embody low in stature, so we should be in attitude and mind toward one another. And children are at a learning age. They're like little sponges. They just absorb information and knowledge. And so should we be in the same way. Little children are not concerned about accumulating power, about politics. These are things they learn as they grow up. But they're just not thinking about that.

What Christ did here was to use little children as an example. What he was really teaching them is that he wanted them to become like him. But these little children were someone who would exemplify the approach that he had. And he wanted them to be like him. So why is it so hard for us to learn this lesson? Because we're all human. And we're influenced by Satan the devil. We have our own human nature, depending on our own background and influences and how we grew up.

These are things that we will struggle with. I think Matthew 18 in that account, it basically shows that this becomes an issue of the kingdom of God. Because Christ said, Assuredly I say to you that unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter into the kingdom of heaven.

So it's an issue of whether we will be in God's kingdom or not, depending on whether we have this attitude, this approach. Because God is not going to have somebody ruling in his kingdom who's going to lord it over people. That's why he's preparing us today to learn to stop ruling and lording it over people in the wrong way and become servants to people.

In life, Markley says, as in all, a question of what a man is aiming at. Are we aiming at fulfilling personal ambition, acquisition of personal power, the enjoyment of personal prestige, the exaltation of the self? This is precisely the opposite of what the kingdom of God is all about. The kingdom of God is not about that. The kingdom of God is serving one another. Now, let's go over to Mark 10, the second example where Christ pointed this out to his disciples. Let's see if we can learn even more. Mark 10, 35, I should say. Beginning in verse 35.

Then James and John, the son of Zebedee, came to him, saying, Teacher, we want you to do something for us. Whatever we ask. We're your pals. We're your best friend. You know, you love John here, so they thought they'd capitalize on their friendship. And he said to them, what do you want me to do for you? Now, he knew what they were getting at.

Now, the other account in Matthew 20 says, Mrs. Zebedee came along and asked for her sons. So, she's here in the mixture also. So, here's a mom. Great deal of pride in her children. Two of my sons. And you're right there with the Messiah. So, she comes along and asks. And they said to him, Grant us that we may sit, one on your right hand, the other on your left, in your glory.

And Jesus said to them, You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink? Be baptized with the baptism I'm baptized with? And they said, Yeah, we're able. And Christ said, Okay, you will. Now, you're going to have to go through trials, tests. You'll be martyred and all of that. But he goes on to say, verse 40, Sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but it's for those to whom it is prepared. Now, when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John. Why were they upset? Because James and John got there first. That's why. They wanted those positions. And so they were upset. How dare them do this?

Well, deep down, they fell prey to the human craving, the best position, biggest responsibilities. And they began to equate that with positions in the kingdom of God. And I think they became blinded through their own selfish ambitions and motivations. Now, how serious of a faux pas would this have been if Christ had granted them their wish? Have you ever asked yourself that? What if Christ had said, Okay, you're my pal. I'm not sure who the Father wants there, but I'll give it to you. And He would have gone ahead and given them that position. It would have been a wrong, wrong decision to make. Why? Well, what would have happened if Christ had granted them their request, and they had achieved this position through this method? Not because it's what something the Father wanted, but because they just came and asked. You know, people all the time trying to advance themselves in this way. Where would they want to sit the next time? See, we want to sit on your right hands, but where would they want to sit the next time? They come to the Father. Father, could we sit on your right hand and on your left hand? See, not enough to sit on Christ's right hand and left hand, but go to Him. And then where would that lead? We want to be in charge. Where does that attitude come from? It comes from the devil, the satanic. Can you see in their approach, the approach that Satan used, or the Lucifer used? He started out giving a position, a very powerful position, responsibility, and he wasn't satisfied with that. He wanted more. He wanted a higher position. Maybe he wasn't satisfied with coming down here to the earth, and what that was all about. He wanted to stay there in heaven, whatever his problem was. The next he wanted to usurp God's position, and so he's tried to get man to do the same thing. So his approach was wrong, and he was influencing them in a wrong way. When Christ talked to his disciples, his disciples had the same problem too often that we can have. When Christ said, my thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are not your ways, from the Old Testament, God's thoughts are not always our thoughts, and our ways are not always God's ways. They, in principle, wanted to lord it over their brothers. They felt maybe a bit superior, better disciples, if we're closer to Christ, we'll be looked upon. Every time somebody looks at Christ, you will be, and you will be the rising stars. Service simply was not in their thinking. Position, opportunities were. As Barclay says, Jesus uses a kind of gradation. If you wish to be great, he says, be a servant. If you wish to be first, be a slave.

Then he goes on to say, here's the Christian revolution. Here is a complete reversal of all the world's standards. The world's standards are the exact opposite. Christ came and said, these are the standards, these are the values, these are the principles that I want you to live by, I want you to rule by, and I want you to eventually rule in the kingdom of God by.

Now, with that in mind, let's go back to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 15.

Now, I'll just sort of summarize this for you. Deuteronomy chapter 15, verse 12. Deuteronomy 15, verse 12.

It says, if your brother, a Hebrew man, a Hebrew woman is sold to you and serves for six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free. And when you send him away free, you shall not let him go away empty-handed, supply him liberally from your flock and your threshing floor, your winepress. It says, you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. And then it goes on to show, as you've gone through this, that what if he says, I don't want to leave. I want to say, I want to be your servant. I love you. I love your household. Love all your kids. This is a great setup. Why do I have to leave? And so, in that case, they would take a punch, they would drill a hole through his ear, and the hole symbolized that he had chosen of his own free will to remain a slave. At that time, he would remain a slave, and until he died, he would be a slave. In that case, where a slave willingly chose to give up his freedom, for the love of his master and the love of his household was a symbol of something. Actually, there's a spiritual parallel that you and I should obviously draw from this. When the Apostle Paul wrote, James wrote, Peter wrote, Jude wrote, and the Bible, they addressed themselves in their own writings as the slaves of God, the doulos. In the Greek language, doulos, which means a bond servant or slave, they referred to themselves as the bond servants of Jesus Christ. I read you Titus 1 and verse 1. They're not talking in the terms of just doing acts of service. They were thinking of themselves as becoming slaves of the Father and of Jesus Christ. They had given up their lives out of love for him and his house, and they did what all of us have done. When you come and you're baptized, what do you do? You say you give up your life. You've given up the old man, the old way of life, and you are willing to follow God. You want to be a part of his family, of his household forever. You want to be his slave. Yes, we become his children. We know these are all analogies. It's talking about an attitude and approach of mind that we have to have in serving one another. They were willing to do that, and you and I must have the same attitude and the same approach. Anyone seeking greatness for the wrong reason will quickly use that power and that authority for personal advantage to lord it over others. So you've got to seek greatness for the right reason, and that is to serve, to help, to give. To be like Christ, you and I have to descend into greatness. You don't ascend to greatness, you descend to greatness. Meaning, you humble yourself. That's the way we live. The humility of Godly leadership leads to keeping the misuse of power and authority in check. You don't have that as a problem. Now, let's go... Well, jot down. I don't think we have time, really, to cover this. Matthew 23, verses 10 through 12 is another account where Christ referred to this.

In this particular case, he was referring to the Pharisees, Sadducees, and that they had the same problem of not having the humility. Let's go over to Luke 22 and verse 23. Luke 22-23, here's the third occasion where Christ had to sit down and explain to his disciples over again. This, I think, is the most striking of all of the examples because it's the final Passover. Here Christ is changing the symbols for the bread and the wine. He washes their feet. What are they arguing about? Who's going to be the greatest? How can you do that at the Passover? How can you be arguing over who's going to be the greatest? Verse 23. They began to question among themselves which of them it was who would do this thing. In other words, betray Christ. Apparently, they couldn't figure that out. So then they went on. There was a dispute among them as to which of them should be considered the greatest. So here they are. They're arguing over this. Now you might ask, how in the world did they get to that point? Well, you could deduce in the context of the conversation going on here that's written in the Bible that they could have easily begun to say, well, I'm the most loyal. I would never betray. I'm the greatest offender of Christ. I'd be willing to die for him. Don't have to worry about me. And the other would say, well, I've always wondered about you. Well, each one trying to portray himself as being the one who would be his defender. And so they couldn't figure all of this out. So Christ then goes ahead and talks about how, notice verse 24, There was this dispute among them as to which of them should be considered. Notice that word, the greatest. And he said to them, the kings of the Gentiles exercised lordship over them, and those who exercised authority over them are called benefactors. Now notice that word. Looked upon as actually one who benefits others. But not so among you, on the contrary, who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. Now normally it's the younger who wait on the older. So he said, you need to be like the younger. And then he goes on to talk about how he's going to bestow a kingdom. Markley has this to say, Now a king would take this title whether he was a benefactor or not, whether he helped other people or not. But God says, if you and I are going to be benefactors to others, and in his kingdom, and we've got to be willing to serve.

In verse 24, the word consider, the expository Bible commentary says, is well chosen since status has to do with self-perception and how one desires to be perceived by others. So you find that Jesus Christ here clearly showed them that their attitude was wrong. So, brethren, Jesus Christ in John 13, we won't read that, but you can jot that down. John chapter 13 instituted that evening the foot-washing service. And perhaps one of the reasons why he instituted that was because of their dickering and bickering and disputing, and who's the greatest. And he wanted to show them that here he was, their Lord, their Master. And he was willing to get down and wash their feet, the job of the lowliest servant. And he said, you know what I've done to you? He said, you call me Lord and Master, you say, well, so I am. But if I've washed your feet, you ought to be willing to wash one another's feet. Well, was Christ just concerned about washing feet? We do that at the Passover. Showing our willingness to do so, that goes much further than that. The fact that we're willing to do that at the Passover shows, or should demonstrate, that we have that mindset, we have that attitude, we have that approach. Following Christ's example, that we are willing to serve one another, no matter what it is that we are willing to help. Humans tend to fear a loss of authority or position with having a servant attitude. And yet, what do we find about Jesus Christ? The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ has been exalted. So I want you to notice. He came to the earth, humbled Himself. Now He's been exalted above every name, above all authority, except the Father. And at His name, every knee is to bow. That's the same principle that applies to us. If we're willing to humble ourselves, then there will come a time when God will exalt us in His kingdom. So you see, it doesn't matter today who has, quote-unquote, the greatest position, greatest responsibility. It's not based upon that, is it? You could be 90 years old and not able to do too much, but if you do according to your ability, according to what you're able to do, and you serve, and you pray, and you're involved, you could have one of the highest positions in God's kingdom. Because it's based upon what we do with what we have. It's also based upon this attitude, this servant attitude. So Jesus Christ was willing to humble Himself. He became a servant, and God has highly exalted Him, given Him a position above all. So humble service is not in contradiction to godly leadership. They go hand in hand.

It is rather the very essence of it. Godly leadership, humility, the very essence of that is that proper humility. Sir Brethren, let's be thankful for the blessings that God has given to us, and realize that God is looking for those who will become Christ-like in their service, and have the same mindset, same attitude, and the same humility that Jesus Christ, our example, set for us.