Service Over Rank

Excuse me. The title of the sermon today is Service Over Rank. Service Over Rank.

The ministry hears a common request, even somewhat of a complaint, that goes something like, I would really like to serve more. All the good jobs are taken, and I don't get to do anything. Or something goes like this. All the good jobs are taken by a few at the top. And how are we supposed to learn to be leaders in the kingdom if we can't serve? Those questions are asked sincerely out of frustration, or a sense of unjustice or unfairness, or a sense of distrust. But what's missing with those requests are an understanding of the difference between rank or position and service. I use the term rank or position interchangeably because they're two sides of the same coin. Rank or position is not the same thing as service. You don't need rank to serve, and sometimes those who have rank don't serve. Your rank in this life is meaningless in the kingdom of God and eternity, but your service to others really matters. So why, then, do we seek rank? That is a complicated question, and I'm going to give some reasons, some negative reasons, why we seek rank. Obviously, if you're seeking rank to serve, that's fine, but there's a lot of negative reasons, and we need to do some self-examination and ask ourselves, why does position matter? Position on the job, position in a family, position with friends, position in the church. Why do we care? There's a number of possible reasons why we seek position, and none of them are good. And I'm going to go through them today, and I'm going to address them, and then I'm going to give the solution. Right? And the first reason, first possible reason, now, we don't all have all the same reasons for seeking position or wanting some acknowledgement from the job or family members or friends or the church, but one of these or two of these might be the reasons why we do. And one of them is the desire for security or stability.

Just the desire for security or position often seems to offer safety. Ranks can seem to mean income, protection, or influence that would keep you safe. People believe that if they're important enough, they will not be ignored, replaced, or hurt. This is why people fight for titles in workplaces, in churches, in families, and friendship. Position feels like insurance against uncertainty. But it's not. Position does not provide security. So what does? Psalm 62 verse 5. Psalm 62 verse 5. This so perfectly answers that question. 5 and 6. Psalm 62 verse 5. For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence. For my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress. I shall not be shaken. The truth is, security comes only from God, not status. Titles cannot steady your soul. They cannot make safe your life.

There's so many things that will overcome a high title. And nothing can overcome God. You are not safe with position. You are safe with God. Now there's another—we're going to go through five reasons why we seek title. And the first one was quite innocuous, quite innocent. Just placing your trust in the wrong place. You know, you want security, and you think getting a position will make you more secure, and it won't. The second is also a need. But it's a need for identity or worth. Not security, but to know who you are. Many people tie their value as a person to the role they play in life. They say to themselves, if I have rank, I matter. If others recognize me, then I exist.

When your identity is unclear, position becomes a substitute for meaning. Instead of knowing who you are, you might try to prove who you are through recognition.

This is why losing position can feel like losing yourself.

But brethren, position does not identify you. Position does not make you who you are. And it doesn't even always determine what you do.

Position or rank is really quite thin in what it provides. Isaiah 43, verse 1. Please turn there with me and read this with me. Here's where we get our identity. This is who we are. Isaiah 43, verse 1.

But now, thus says the Lord, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel. So, fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. God says, I gave you your name. You are mine. Oh, I love that. Want to talk about identity? You are mine. You don't get a higher rank than that.

When all things are said and done, God says this not just of Jacob, but of all people. Let's go to Revelation 21, verse 7. I want to read this from the net version, the NET version. It says it so well. Revelation 21, verse 7. The one who conquers will inherit these things. And I will be his God, and he will be my son. That word son in the Greek is who else? And it means kinship. In other words, son or daughter, depending on who you are.

Identifying or your identity is given to you by God. It's not earned through recognition. Rank doesn't give you your personal identity. Even if you achieve rank on the job, in the family, or in the church. That is not or ever will be your identity.

You are a child of God.

Nothing could be higher than that you already have.

Nothing, nothing could be worth more than that. And you are your identity. That's who you are.

The third reason people might seek rank or position is one that really needs to be faced and overcome. No matter who you are, and no matter what your background, this is a challenge that needs to be overcome. And it is the desire for control. Sometimes it's not an identity issue. It's a control issue. Because rank gives you leverage.

The ability to decide. The ability to be obeyed. The ability to avoid being vulnerable. Control feels safer than trust. In broken systems, people seek authority so they won't be at the mercy of other people. Sometimes the families we grow up in are broken, which creates all sorts of personality glitches in people. And one of those glitches is so overwhelming is the desire to control our surroundings so we don't get taken advantage of.

And that makes you, if you are this person, one of the hardest people to get along with. Scripture often shows that those people who fear losing control are the ones who cling to it the hardest. And it is fear. Fear that is the challenge, not the desire for control. In most cases, when people want to control, it's often because they are afraid. Now, there is an exception to that.

There's also this human nature, narcissistic tendency to believe you are superior to other people and therefore they need your control. I'm not talking about that, because that is an unconverted mind. I'm talking to people with the Holy Spirit today. I'm talking to you, the church, and you can still have a control issue, but that issue is when you are afraid and you're letting fear take your trust away. So I'm being very specific. I'm not talking about carnal issues. I'm talking about, well, they are carnal issues, but you can you can have God's Holy Spirit and still have these issues.

Okay? All of us have to face fear the same way. No matter how we're raised, no matter what happened to us in the past, we are all responsible to face fear the same way. Position does not give you control. Control is an illusion. Don't seek rank to manage the outcomes of life or to manage other people. The answer is the same no matter who you are, no matter what your background, and it's found in Proverbs chapter 3 and verse 5, and this is the solution.

And as a Christian, we need to face this solution, and we need to accept it. Proverbs 3 verse 5, trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean to your own understanding.

In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. You do not make your path straight. You do not control the outcome of your life. He does. Trust in God replaces the need for control. Put your fears aside. This is your responsibility as a Christian. Put your fears aside and listen to your trust. That voice in your head that's telling you, trust God. And open your hand, loosen your grip, and let go of control.

The fourth, I'm going to spend a little bit more time on. It is the fear of being overlooked or being invisible. And maybe fear is the wrong word, because there's actually a need here. There's a need that God created in us. And we use sometimes position or rank to fill a very real need. People seek rank because they fear being unnoticed. Not that you don't know who you are, like in point two, seeking identity. You know who you are. The issue is that other people do not acknowledge who you are. And you feel alone. You know you're a child of God, but nobody else seems to care.

This is a biggie. You aren't being noticed by anyone, and nobody pays attention. You have no voice, no influence, no acknowledgement. This is a very real issue for some people, and everybody needs to be noticed in some way. It was created, it was built into us by God to need a relationship with Him. And with others. The whole law of God centers around paying attention to other people, and paying attention to God. It's the way we were created.

And a lot of times, when we feel like we don't have that, we use rank or position to try to fill that need. The human need to be seen and acknowledged is a basic need. It's at a basic level. The need to be noticed is not vanity or insecurity. It is a rational wiring, not rational, relational wiring inside our soul, our being. To be seen means I exist. I matter. I belong.

Touching a nerve here? It should. From infancy onward, humans regulate emotions, identity, and a sense of safety through responsive relationships.

When another person notices us and responds appropriately, our nervous system actually receives a signal of safety. When that doesn't happen, our body interprets that as isolation or threat.

That manifests itself in a feeling like, I don't belong here. I don't want to be here.

But you know it's the church. You know this is where God placed you. So you seek rank or position to fill that need.

In everyday life, this shows up as a desire for eye contact, wanting your name to be remembered, wanting your presence to be acknowledged. Hey, good to see you! That's all. I mean, literally, that would be great if somebody would just do that. Wanting your experiences to be validated by somebody else. Hey, I just went and did this. You'll never believe what happened this week. And somebody else says, that is so neat. Or, oh, that's terrible.

Right? When these needs are unmet over time, people will often seek a substitute. Attention-seeking behavior, they act out, they want status or rank or control. In other words, the drive for recognition can become distorted when basic acknowledgement is absent. And that says a lot about a congregation if that is a broad problem in the congregation. It's not merely in your head.

It's actually a biological need that's built into our bodies. And this, what I'm talking about, is not some abstract idea. Human beings are not just minds that happen to have a body to go with it. We are an integrated system. God made us this way. The brain, the nervous system, the body develop a response to relationships. Being seen, touched, and responded to actually directly shapes things like our nervous system, how we regulate hormones in our bodies. And one thing that really demonstrates what I'm talking about are little babies that are born premature. Nick you babies. Have a necessity for touch. It literally can save their life. Premature or medically fragile infants often cannot be held. So they're put into these isolation pods to protect their fragile underdeveloped bodies. But decades of research show that intentional gentle touch is not an option for these babies. It is essential. Practices like kangaroo care, which is skin-to-skin contact, have been shown to stabilize heart rate and breathing, improve oxygen saturation, promote weight gain because they're way underweight, and reduce cortisol stress. A baby's nervous system is not yet capable of self-regulation. Touch is how regulation is borrowed from another human being. So this kangaroo care, what is it? It's when they take the baby out of the isolation pod, put a diaper on the baby, quickly put the baby on mommy's chest, and cover the baby with a blanket. And the baby can feel mommy's breathing and mommy's heartbeat.

And that it actually reduces stress that takes energy that the baby should be putting into development. And if they can lower the baby's stress, all of that baby's energy can go into growing instead of fighting off the stress. And all of that is done, not through an IV or oxygen. It's done by touch. In simple terms, the baby needs another body to tell it you are safe, you are not alone. And without input, the infant remains in a heightened stress state which consumes energy needed for growth and healing. Isn't that neat? I thought that was pretty cool.

Okay, so being seen is actually something we need before we even learn how to talk.

Long before a child understands words, they understand warmth, pressure, rhythm, presence, and responsiveness. Touch is the first language of acknowledgement.

So when a caregiver responds to a baby's coos, right, through touching or voice or eye contact, the baby learns that my signals matter, the world responds to me, and I'm not invisible. It's pretty neat.

Adults continue this need. We just don't think about it, right? We grow out of the baby phase and we don't think about, we're that same exact baby. We just grew up. We still need to be noticed, we need to be heard, we need to be responded to. We need to know that our presence actually made a difference when we walked through a door. When that need is met, in a healthy way, it looks like mutual respect, it looks like everybody belongs, everybody, you know, is invited, it's just assumed, oh, you're going to lunch, where are we going?

Right? It's just assumed.

There's a peace and a confidence in the group. When this is unmet, we crave attention, we compete for position and rank, we perform for approval, or we withdraw. Once we've given up and we become invisible. From a biblical perspective, this makes sense. Humans were created in the image of a relational God who sees, who knows, who, as we read, calls us by name. To be acknowledged is a need, a reflection of how we were designed to live, to have a relationship, a relationship that's responsive. But you know what?

Seeking position or rank will not fulfill your need to be noticed, heard, or responded to, and it will likely do the opposite. Having a position often leaves you feeling more alone. Dr. Ward always used to say, it's lonely at the top. He used to be the chairman of our Council of Elders. Most of you know Dr. Ward personally. I watched my father growing up, and my mom being a pastor and a pastor's wife. You don't want that. You don't want it. That's not what you're seeking. It just looks like it is. God sees those who are overlooked. Seeking rank to avoid invisibility is not your solution. Matthew chapter 6 and verse 4. Notice God's priority here, and take some comfort from this. Matthew 6 and verse 4.

So that your giving may be in secret, and your father who sees in secret will reward you. He responds to you. He knows your name. He acknowledges your existence, and he responds to your good behavior. You are not unnoticed. You are not invisible. Not to God. But God's attention is on those who humbly follow Him. God's attention is not drawn by prominence. He couldn't care less what your title is. Remember, point number two, He's the one who gives you your identity. He's the one who says your worth. He couldn't care less what other people promote or don't promote you to. You are His child. He's proud of you. He loves you. He's working with you. God's attention is not drawn by prominence. And there is one more reason that we seek rank or position that I want to talk to you about before we talk about the solution today. The final reason, some people seek rank or position. And it's not really the final, it's just what we have time for. It's what I call competition. It's conditioned in us. The new buzz phrase is social conditioning. This is definitely social conditioning competition. From early in life, people are trained to compete for grades, for achievement awards like sport trophies, for promotions on the job, for titles, for platforms to give your opinion from. So we just love social media.

And I'm not saying it's all bad. There's some good things in competition. You know, it keeps us sharp. That iron sharpening iron can be really good. But society takes it too far. Makes it way too self-centered, way, way too divisive, where the winners matter and the losers don't.

Society rewards visibility and rank. So people learn that being higher means being valued more. Which is nonsense. It's a lie. Remember Solomon said, the race is not to the swift, but time and chance happen to all. The race does not determine your value. Position does not determine your value. This conditioning becomes so deeply internalized. So in families, in the workplace, yes, even in the church, there is often competition. Trying to tear one person down so that you can gain their position in the group. Whatever group your job, family, friends, church, whatever. Striving for rank through comparison is utter foolishness.

In the church in Corinth, they had someone who competed against Paul. Maybe multiple people. He wrote about that competition. We'll just read, we're just going to kind of cut into it out of context, but it'll work. Second Corinthians chapter 10 verse 12. Second Corinthians 10 verse 12. Notice what Paul says about competition in the church. Second Corinthians 10 verse 12. Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves, but when they measure themselves by one another, that's competition, and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding. They are clueless in the church. Competitors are clueless.

Rather, our attitude should be what Paul wrote in Philippians 2 verses 3 and 4. Philippians 2 verses 3 and 4. Verse 3. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, count others more significant than yourselves. The opposite of competition. Let them win. Let them get the acknowledgement. Make sure their needs are taken care of. Let each of you look out not only for his own interest, but also to the interest of others. What a neat solution, where everybody takes care of everybody else, and they don't worry about themselves. Ambition divides. Humility builds. Simple, simple, simple. The kingdom of God will be built by those who humbly follow God, not by the winners. Jesus redefined what greatness is. Jesus didn't say it's wrong to be great. He simply redefines what it is to be great. Want to hear it? Here's what it is to truly be Top Gun. Mark 9 verse 35. Mark 9 verse 35. And he sat down and he called the 12 to them and he said, because they were arguing, they were competing with each other, anyone who would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all. Servant. Not the top dog, not the one with the trophy, the one that goes last. Jesus doesn't eliminate the desire for greatness. He simply transforms it. You want to be great?

Greatness in the kingdom of God is not found by rising above other people, but by willingly lowering yourself to serve them.

You were called to be great. Your calling is to greatness. You weren't called to win a trophy, but a crown.

You were called to be a leader. Christians are called to leadership in the coming kingdom of God.

How do you seek it? 1 Corinthians 6 verse 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 2, speaking specifically of your calling to become a leader, which, by the way, is rank or position. 1 Corinthians 6 verse 2. Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If you know anything about a biblical judge, that's a leader, that's a ruler, the judge was somebody who was in charge. And if the world is to be judged by you, are you not competent to settle trivial suits? Do you not know that you will judge angels? Why not ordinary matters? You are going to be a judge of the world. I'm not so focused on settling the ordinary matters, that's not the point. The point of that passage is you're going to be in charge. Revelation chapter 20 verse 4. Revelation 20 and verse 4. And I saw thrones, and they sat on them. Uh, yeah, that's rank. That's position. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads, on their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

What kind of leader is God preparing us to be?

In this next passage, let's look at the nature of kingdom leadership. Servants, go first in the kingdom. Those who are last now will go first then. Mark 9, Mark chapter 9 verse 33. Very similar to what we just read. He came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, What is the dispute among yourselves on the road?

But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves, Who would be the greatest?

So it's not just us, it's not just Christians in 2025 who seek rank and position. It's a human issue. But by the way, they didn't have the Holy Spirit yet.

He sat down, he called the twelve, and he said to them, If anyone desires to be first, he should be last of all and servant of all. Leadership begins with servanthood, servanthood, not position. I started the sermon with the common complaint that we get that there aren't enough jobs to do, or only people at the top get those jobs. Leadership is all around you. It's service to other people. That's when you're being a leader. When you have a title, it doesn't make you a leader, not in God's eyes.

When you clean up the floor and nobody acknowledges you, that makes you a leader.

I want to share a couple of stories with you. This one is of a businessman.

It was on a servant leadership page on LinkedIn in their short stories area. It's servant leadership in action. This was in December 15, 2023. I'm going to summarize it. I'm not going to quote it, but it's about a restaurant owner who picked up trash. Listen to this. In a small town, one winter morning, two friends sat having breakfast talking about leadership and service, and they looked out the window, and they noticed an older man walking slowly through their parking lot with a trash bag and a picker. Even though the ground was cold and the day was just beginning, the man methodically collected every scrap of litter he saw, not just around his restaurant, but along the sidewalk and even the edges of the neighbor's properties. His friends realized the man was the owner of the restaurant where they were eating. He could have easily ignored the mess or asked an employee to deal with it. But instead, he chose to humble himself and serve his community in a way no one expected. Though his act was small, it was remarkable. He served not because he had to. This guy had options. There was plenty of ways to get that job done than to go out there in the cold and do it himself. But he did it because he cared.

One of the friends at the restaurant said he didn't need a fancy title to lead. He led by example, by serving others first, even in the simplest way.

And you know what? Here's the cool thing about that. That man had a title.

Yet, similar to Jesus on the night of Passover, the man who was the boss acted in service to his community like a servant. Here's another story, and this one is exactly the opposite. A person with no title. A person with no recognition. A person that at the time when she served, it would have been shameful to have been served by her. Yes, there were dark times in our country. This one's from Wikipedia.

It's about a lady named Julia Greenlee. You ever heard of Julia Greenlee? Probably have. She's called Denver's Angel of Charity. Julia Greenlee was an African-American woman born into slavery in Missouri in the 1800s, who later became known throughout Denver, Colorado, as the Angel of Charity. She endured a lot of hardship. She had a childhood injury that left her in chronic pain. Her mother was being whipped by the slave owner, and at the backlash of the whip, it caught her and poked her eye out. So she had one eye the rest of her life from a little girl. And then she had arthritis as well. So she had a rough life. And she gained her freedom, not because of the Emancipation Proclamation, because Missouri didn't honor that.

Later, they had their own Emancipation Proclamation, and then she was freed as a slave. She worked wherever she could to earn money, but not just for herself. Remarkable woman. She gave it away to struggling families. Anything that she didn't eat or consume, she gave it away. She did not save her money. Each night in Denver, she would pull a little red wagon through Denver streets carrying food, coal, clothing, and other items to people in poverty. But she would make her rounds under the cover of darkness, so that recipients wouldn't feel ashamed being white and impoverished, accepting charity from a former slave. Her service wasn't flashy, and only after her death was it widely celebrated. It was not celebrated in her lifetime. She didn't get acknowledgement. She didn't get praise. She got no title.

She literally got nothing in return. But she didn't seek recognition or praise. Instead, she gave sacrificially and humbly.

She even donated her own burial plot to another poor African-American man who was going to be laid to rest a pauper. She was a member of the Catholic Church in Denver, and she had a burial plot for herself. And she gave it up, which meant she would have to be buried a pauper, because you don't just like get a new plot. Well, she was acknowledged after her death, and she was given a burial in the Catholic Church itself. And this, I could be wrong, but I believe that she is the only lay member to be buried in a Catholic cathedral. You mean, you have to be a bishop or higher to get buried in a cathedral. And later she was sainted and all of that stuff that they do. But because of her generous acts and her compassion, regardless of her background, she got the title Denver's Angel of Charity. Why does it matter? Her service was personal. It was humble. It was even, it cost her something. It was a sacrifice.

You don't need a title to serve. All the jobs are not taken. You can serve every day in little ways, and they matter.

She didn't get paid to do what she did. In fact, she worked a regular job all of her life, used her own money to feed the poor. She didn't have any rank or position. Nothing to tell her what she had to do. So her life illustrates what I'm trying to talk about. Service lived out in everyday action, serving other people without seeking attention or reward. The church is supposed to be a unified serving body. 1 Corinthians chapter 12. Verse 14 through 27. I might skip a little bit for time's sake. 1 Corinthians 12 verse 14. For in fact, the body is not one member, but many. Think about your body, right? You have all these different parts. If you just had one body, you'd be an amoeba. Or one part, you'd be an amoeba. But we're not. That's Paul's point. If the foot should say, because I'm not a hand, I'm not of the body, it is therefore not of the body, all the good jobs are taken. This is exactly what Paul is addressing.

That objection went all the way back to the first century church.

And the answer is still the same. Let's drop down a little bit to verse 18. But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body, just as he has pleased.

Your rank, your position, your acknowledgement in the church, doesn't last for an eternity. Your service to others and the reward that follows does last for an eternity. Which one do you really want? Verse 19. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you. And again, to the feet, I have no need of you. No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, these we bestow a greater honor. Do you hear that? To me, that just screams off the page. Don't seek position or rank.

Verse 24. But our presentable parts have no need.

Okay, what is he talking about? Greater honor. I've explained this before. When you meet somebody, you look them in the eye, maybe you shake their hand, or you give them a hug.

You never reach in and touch their pancreas. I know that sounds ridiculous, but you don't. You never, in fact, when you're talking to somebody, except for after this sermon, you'll probably have a weird thought. But when you meet somebody, you never think, I am meeting this person's pancreas. You never think about the pancreas. But you know what? If the person lost their hand, they would still be a person, and you'd still meet them. If they lost their pancreas, they'd be dead.

You don't ever acknowledge the pancreas.

But without it, they wouldn't be a person anymore. Without the hand, without the mouth, without the eyes, still a person. We give acknowledgement and we give honor to the hands and the eyes and the mouth.

We don't even think about the pancreas. This is Paul's point. Verse 25. Maybe verse 24.

But our presentable parts, our face, our hands, our feet, have no need of great honor, because they always get the honor, right? God composed the body, having giving great honor to the part which lacks it. The more important parts are your internal organs that you never even give thought to until something goes wrong.

Verse 25. He gets to his point here. That there should be no schism in the body. Think about that. We're just going to split the body in half. Yeah, you'd be dead. Don't split the church either. Over what? Ambition? Nay, nay. That the members should have the same care for one another. Oh, there are no jobs in the church? Really? Look around. There's plenty to care for. There's plenty. And I know we do okay. We're not doing terrible at this. We do okay at it. But I know we can do better. We had a lot of prayer requests this week. And you know that the email opens, I can see a percentage of how many people open them. And I don't go in and look at who opened them. Not that I wouldn't do that, because I would. I just don't have time. I just don't have time. So I look at the percentage. I look at the overall big picture. And do you know that the more prayer requests that go out, the fewer of us read them? The percentage drops. We're not perfect. We're not perfect. There should be no schism in the body, but the members should have the same care for one another. There's nothing for you to do. There is more to do than you can possibly do. Your job in learning to be a leader is learning to serve. And if, verse 26, if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. And if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. You matter, but so does every other member in that body. You learn to care for that body. You learn to become a leader in the kingdom of God. You will have position in rank one day. Don't struggle for it today. You have another job to do today, and it's to learn to be servant of all. People stop striving for rank and position. When? Their identity is settled. They know who they are. Their worth is secure, and their future is trusted to God. When a person knows they're already loved, already known, already promised a place in God's kingdom, position in rank loses its grip. Servants don't need rank. They already know who they are. Do you know what true rank and prominence is? When this is said of you, you will have the most prominence you can imagine. Matthew 25 verse 23. You want to talk about prominence? Listen to this. Matthew 25 verse 23. His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. You cleaned the outside of that restaurant even though you were the boss. You served and gave to other people even though it cost you. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. You know what? God is not going to put a selfish, competitive, controlling, manipulative person over much. God is going to put a humble servant over much. People seek position or rank because they're looking for security or identity or control or validation or competition. And our father and our older brother are inviting us to find all of those things, not to elevate ourselves above other people. But in humble service under God, that is our job.