Down Is Up
Do you remember playing king of the mountain? It’s a game where you try to claim your place alone at the top of hill as the King (or queen). Everyone else is trying to get to the top of the hill at that same time. So you push, pull, claw, bite, and whatever else you have to do to get over and around everyone else. When you get to the top, you are the King. The only problem is that now everyone else is still trying to claim your place. There is a good chance you might not be there for long. It’s just a kid’s game isn’t it? Or do we still tend to play our grown up versions of King of the Mountain? How high can we go? How do we measure up and stack up against our peers socially, financially, at work, etc.
A man named Joe Ehrmann coaches high school football and has been challenging teenage boys to become men for a number of years. He has noted how boys tend to compete with one another from the very beginning. First they start on the athletic field. They begin to establish a pecking order. Then they move to the girls. Who is on top in the social scene. Finally as they get older, men compete in the financial world to see who can make the most money. Life basically becomes a big competition. Who can be the King of Mountain? This false sense of masculinity brings about a lot of failure in many lives because it gives us the concept that what we do as men is compare what we have and compete with others for what they have. Women can tend to compete as well.
And then Jesus walks into our worlds and begins to challenge these ideas and concepts of competition and comparison. He says things like the first will be last, and the greatest of you will the servant of all.
One day, James and John asked Jesus to do whatever they asked of him. Jesus said, “Oh yeah, what do you want me to do.” They asked, “Let one of us sit at your right hand, and the other at your left hand in your glory.” (Mark 10:37
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They were asking Jesus to make sure they came out on top. They were asking Jesus to make sure they were kings of the mountain when he came into his kingdom. They were seeking the place of honor and prestige. They were more concerned about their kingdom than Jesus’ kingdom.
The other ten disciples were pretty upset when they found out about James and John’s request. You know why? James and John beat them to the punch. The others were whining because they felt that had been outmaneuvered by James and John, and they had gotten passed up on the mountain.
Can you believe that Jesus’s disciples are bickering about who is going to be number one in the kingdom, and Jesus is getting ready to die and give his life for them? The reality is that God’s people still do the same things. We fight and jockey for position at work, at school, at church, at the club, and on and on. We all want to win, and look better than the others.
Jesus looked to his disciples and said, “The first will be last. And the greatest of you will be the servant of all.” Jesus wasn’t against us being great. He just said we go about it the wrong way. Jesus said that we must serve to be great. The world says success is about having people serve you. Jesus said it is about serving others. Does our life add value to the people around us? Are we helping them draw closer to God? Are we helping others be successful? Jesus said that down is the way up in His kingdom. Humble yourself and serve, and God will lift you up. And that’s the Word.
