Ministry
Transformation | Community | Worship
Power. Have you noticed how everyone likes power?
People run for office, fight for promotions, buy expensive cars, and put each other down in pursuit of power. Life can become a status contest.
Jesus is the exception. It has been said that the only person on earth who didn’t try to act like he was God was Jesus. It’s true. Jesus was God in the flesh, but he didn’t go around trying to convince anyone that he was better than them. Instead he treated everyone he knew as though they were the most important.
In Jesus’ eyes, everyone is God’s favorite.
His earliest disciples followed him for years and still struggled with this. They were so used to seeing life as a power-struggle that they couldn’t see it any other way. Not long before Jesus’ death, he overheard them arguing about who was better than whom.
Another time, two of his disciples asked to be shown favoritism over the other ten. Jesus told them that their desire for power was common throughout the whole world.
Then he said something that changes everything.
“Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant…For even the Son of Man [Jesus] did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
With just a few words, Jesus turned the whole world upside-down. He essentially said, “If you’re aiming for the top, you’re going the wrong direction. Following me is about serving.”
Sometimes Christians come across as really arrogant. Sometimes Christians forget that we’re here for ministry, not power. Ministry is serving. Ministry is serving others in Jesus’ name. It is joining him where he is, with those whom he cares about the most.
It is looking into the eyes of someone else and saying, “You’re God’s favorite.”
