This afternoon as I was trying to catch a quick cat nap, a thought popped into my head, "Men everywhere act like kings and treat everyone else as slaves. But we, as followers of Jesus Christ, should think of ourselves as merely slaves, and treat everyone else as if they were kings." This theme is everywhere in Scripture, especially the new testament as taught by Jesus.
"But Jesus called them together and said,"You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whomever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came to not to be served but to serve others and give his life as a ransom for many." (Matt 20:25-28 NLT).
But humility is so hard a call in today's selfish world. All around us are images and messages telling us to indulge ourselves for "we are worth it". A condo development in town is called, "Centerpoint: Where life revolves around you!" But what is the cost of these messages? What is the fruit of acting like the world revolves around you? Arrogance, selfishness, narcissism are the nasty fruit of following some very attractively wrapped deceptions.
They are even worse when coming from a christian, someone who is supposed to think of him or herself as a slave of righteousness. And we wonder why the Gospel message is often ignored. Have we looked in the mirror lately? Have we taken off our masks to see the ugly truth within? For God does not judge like man does. For man judges by the outside, but the Lord looks into the heart. What does He see in yours? Maybe this is why we repel more people then we attract.
None of us ever set out to act this way, most of us do sincerely wish to act in manner worthy of our calling in Christ. But past hurts, selfishness, and the evil within us, keep us from doing the good we desire. Paul talks about this in the book of Romans:
"I have discovered this principle of life - that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God's law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind, I want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin." (Rom 7:21-25).
How do you live out being in slave in Christ? How do you remember to think of others as more important then yourself? Where do you struggle with this?
