Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not to be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for many who are held hostage.”Mark 10:43-45
As someone who has been in positions of leadership and authority in organizations, I know the true difficulty of this saying of Jesus. I know that this is not the only time that he articulates the great reversal of life in the Reign of God. Those who have it all have nothing at all and those who have nothing have eternal life in its fullness.
This so inconsistent with prevailing values in our culture--really in any culture--that it seems either laughably idealistic or just plain sappy. When one is in a position of authority, one comes to understand that such a position is to be used for the benefit of the organization, for the common good if you will. One's own personal benefit become irrelevant. If it does not, if it becomes a focus of one's leadership, one simply becomes toxic for the organization.
The discipleship to which Jesus calls us is the antidote to that toxicity. Our life is truly not about us at all but about our capacity to hear the word of God and then act on it. That word always calls us to the fundamental dynamic of the life of Jesus: dying and being raised into new life. A life lived for others in a psychologically healthy fashion is the path to the Reign of God announced by Jesus.
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Location:Charissa Run,Rochester,United States
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