After they arrived at Capernaum and settled in a house, Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you discussing out on the road?” But they didn’t answer, because they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.” Mark 9:33-35
Here’s one of those red letter things that is simple in concept but hard to do. Jesus interrupted the disciples’ argument about which of them was the greatest by telling them, if they want to be great, then take the last place in line and be the servant of all.
Be always looking for the least and the lowest, and get in the back of the line with those folks. Don’t have someone hold you a place further up the line. Take the last place, and consider yourself the servant of everyone around you.
How do you do that? It starts in your own mind where you put yourself below everyone else, and then you begin to find out what their reality is like and what they need. They might not see you as their servant — that’s not the point — being a servant is in your mind. That’s the way you see yourself in relation to everyone else. You put yourself below the lowest and you put yourself in their shoes and try to find out what they need.
For me, this is a major shift of interest. I like being my own theme park. I like being special. I like being set apart. I like the green room, the artist cabin, the escort through the line … in short, I like being somebody and getting the VIP treatment. The problem is, I’m not the VIP. Well, I am important in God’s eyes, but in my eyes, everyone else is important. It’s in my eyes where all the important people are. In my eyes, everyone is a VIP.
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