daily java

Daily Java:

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
 Though he was God,
      he did not think of equality with God
      as something to cling to.
 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
      he took the humble position of a slave
      and was born as a human being.
   When he appeared in human form,
    he humbled himself in obedience to God
      and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
      and gave him the name above all other names,
 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
      in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
      to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:3-11)

I suppose that there is nothing worse in this world than a church whose members are all trying to be in charge.

In almost every church, there are those who want to be in control and they will bend heaven and earth to get their way. They will even go so far as to tear the church up to be the boss.

Contrast that with the attitude of Jesus.

John 13. The apostles were sitting around with Jesus after dinner. A couple of them began to argue over who was the leader of the group.

Jesus got up, took off his coat, put a towel around his waist and began to wash their feet. It startled them, as this is the job of a servant. Washing feet was common since most people wore sandals and it was a dusty climate. But the washing was a job of a servant. Jesus was the master.

They sat very still as he washed their feet, afraid and not knowing what to do. It was embarrassing to them. This was out of the ordinary.

Peter decided that he would have Jesus wash all of him and he would have something to brag about to the rest, since they didn’t think of it. Jesus tells him to hush and just let him do his job.

Afterwards he tells them,

Do you understand what I was doing? 13 You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. 14 And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. 15 I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. 16 I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. (John 13:12-16)

Jesus says, if I am in charge and I can do this humble thing, you as my followers do not have anything to brag about.

Jesus had the attitude of humility that the rest were lacking. It was not that they were stupid or bad or necessarily egocentric, it was that they were human and didn’t understand.

Jesus gave up all he had, all of the Godness he had since eternity, and became human in order to reach us and bring us back to God. He was humble enough to give up being God to reach us.

Most of us need an attitude check. We need to remember that we are not in charge, God is. And he sent Jesus to show us the way.

And Jesus is Lord. He is our Savior and our Master, but he came as a servant. We are servants of a servant. Kind of puts things into perspective.