We live in a world of
self-promotion. In days gone by it was
seen as poor form indeed to actively campaign for office. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson remained
remarkably aloof with respect to their candidacies for the presidency in the
election of 1796. It is true that they
knew they were candidates, and they probably even gave some form of instruction
to their surrogates, but it would have been unheard of for them to actively
campaign, or promote themselves for high office. As you may have noticed, times have
changed. Or have they? I don’t think that people are more
self-promoting than they used to be, I think that our society is more tolerant
of self-seeking behavior than it used to be.
As proof that self-promotion isn’t a cultural phenomenon of our own era,
we need simply to look at Jesus’ own disciples.
Could the announcement that Jerusalem
was the destination of Jesus’ and his disciples have insinuated to James and
John that Jesus’ kingdom was about to be inaugurated? That certainly seems to be how they
interpreted it. They ask for the places
of honor in Jesus’ kingdom, to be seated on either side of him in all of his
glory and might. It’s understandable why
they thought this way. In Psalm 110:1, “the
Lord says to my Lord: sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your
footstool.” According to scripture, the
right hand was clearly the place to be, and the left would do if the right had
already been taken. Even Jesus own words
in parables like that of the Messianic banquet in Luke 14:15-24 and Matthew
22:1-10 refer to places of honor. John would
paint a picture of the heavenly throne room in Revelation 4-5 that would
include a place of honor. If there were
places of honor to be had, better to get the jump on asking for them before
someone else reserves them!
Jesus’ response shows us that things clearly
work differently in his kingdom. He asks
them explicitly if they are willing to drink the cup he is going to drink, and
if they can be baptized with the baptism which he will endure. Their affirmative answer betrays not only
their eagerness for status and honor, but also the depth of their
misunderstanding. Later on in the gospel
of Mark, we see that the cup Jesus will drink is not a pleasant one, indeed he
even asks God to “remove this cup from me.
Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Mark 14:36) It’s no mere coincidence that in that crucial
hour those found to the left and right of Jesus are on crosses. To be at Jesus’ side requires us to be
willing to crucify ourselves to this world, and to bear our cross in obedient
discipleship. When they ask for the
places of honor, James and John are utterly unprepared to pay the cost of
discipleship. And yet, their failure and
unpreparedness is not the final word.
While in the gospel of Mark “they all left him and fled” (Mark 14:50), elsewhere
in scripture we see that the disciples overcome their initial setbacks, thanks
to the power of the Holy Spirit working in their lives. Peter, who was among the ones who left him
and fled, and who also denied him, would go on to write, “But rejoice insofar
as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when
his glory is revealed.” (I Peter 4:13) James
would eventually drink the cup and share the baptism of Christ’s suffering:
“About
that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the
church. He killed James the brother of
John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to
arrest Peter also.” (Acts 12:1-3)
While John is widely believed to be the
only apostle to not be martyred, he too suffered in his own way:
“I, John, your brother and partner in
the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus,
was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony
of Jesus.” (Revelation 1:9)
So what does all of this mean? Put simply, it means that we are called to be
different from the world around us. If things
are the same in the church as they are in the world, something is wrong. That difference should start, and it does
start, with the church’s leadership.
Just as Jesus was different from all the rulers this world has seen, or
will see, so those who seek to lead in the church should lead from places of
service and humility. Jesus points out
that the disciples are acting just like the secular rulers they despise. In their behavior, we see what Jesus had to
work with in fashioning leaders for the early church. And yet, in an odd way that’s good news for
us. If the self-promoting James and John
can go on and give their lives, both literally and figuratively in serving
Jesus, surely we have no excuse ourselves for not becoming the type of servant
leaders that the church, and our world desperately need. Paul words to the Galatians are an
appropriate way to sum up what it means to live for Christ as servants:
“For you were called to freedom,
brothers. Only do not use your freedom
as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” (Galatians 5:13)
It is often said we live in the freest
nation on earth. Perhaps instead of
simply celebrating that freedom once a year with fireworks and parades, we
should shock the world by choosing to use it not for ourselves, but in the
service of others.
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