T H E O P H I L U S

Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him. ²¹ “What is it you want?” he asked. She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.” ²² “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” they answered. ²³ Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.” ²⁴ When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. ²⁵ Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ²⁶ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— ²⁸ just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Matthew 20:20-28

History gives us many lessons that we ought to learn from, especially in the wisdom of leadership. Time and time again, we see disastrous consequences from those who feel they know better, or feel that they are more superior than others because of their position in social status, wealth, upbringing, culture or even race. Adolf Hitler was one of the most destructive and most troubling examples recorded in our modern history books. He had a notion that his race was the superior one – that the Aryan race was more superior than those of semitic backgrounds and persecuted everyone who stood in the way of his ideology. The consequence of Hitler’s antisemitic and expansionist views was the surplus genocide in upwards of eleven million people. Six million of those were Jews, and just over a million of them were children.

Much of the sufferings in this world surround the topic of this broken need for power and greed for resources. We are constantly envying and attempting to become better than our neighbors, and we fight our way to get there. But at what cost? Somebody always ends up paying for our need to fulfill our fleshly desires. This is why Jesus tells the mother whom desires to see her sons put up on the pedestal “you don’t know what you are asking”.

A true sign of righteousness is not how much we are recognized nor placed at the forefront of attention. It is the willing and loving heart to serve our neighbors regardless of everything we lose of ourselves, and not counting how much we’ve sacrificed to do that. It is a servant’s attitude of giving no matter how much we’ve received. Jesus commands his disciples “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant”. A sign of true greatness in one’s leadership and character is somebody who does not fringe on ideology, nor esteem from others. Godly greatness births from humility, and the willingness to lay down our lives even for those who may even betray us, just as Christ had done for us.

Today, if you feel the need to be at the front, to do better than your neighbor, or to feel more significant than your enemy – remember what Jesus has commanded us. Personal leadership begins with humility and a willingness to serve your neighbors and the Lord with complete surrender. Find only your significance in knowing who you are in the Lord – beloved, cherished, and saved by His Grace.

“I am persuaded that love and humility are the highest attainments in the school of Christ and the brightest evidences that He is indeed our Master.”