Where this command is found:
“. . . Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
It is not wrong to desire greatness if we desire it for the benefit of those we are serving. God warns, “Seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not” (Jeremiah 45:5). Christ’s command does not condemn greatness; it is, in fact, informing us how to achieve it. God gave Joseph a sense of future greatness when He had him dream that his brothers and even his parents would some day bow down to him. This desire for greatness was refined by God as Joseph learned to serve others when he was a slave and a prisoner.
One who aspires to greatness should be a minister, and one who wants to be chief must be a servant. (See Matthew 20:26–27.) In this passage, the Greek word for minister is diakonos. It denotes “one who executes the commands of another,” and “a waiter (at table or in other menial duties).” A derivative of this word is used to describe the mission of Jesus: “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).
In Matthew 20:27, the word servant is doulos and means “slave, one who is in a permanent relation of servitude to another.” Paul referred to himself as a bond slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is to faithful doulosesthat Jesus will say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).
"Required" indicates required fields
You’ll receive a study guide each month as well as news and encouragement from the Home Discipleship Network.
The more we see how God’s kingdom works, the more we will notice that His ways are opposite to man’s ways! Man’s way of leadership is seeking to be served. God’s way of leadership is that we seek to serve and put others’ needs above our own.
Man finds his ultimate fulfillment in life when he lives out his created purpose. We were created to live for something bigger than ourselves — better said, we were created to live for Someone bigger than ourselves.
Have you noticed how easy it is to serve with a motivation to be accepted or recognized by others? This is something we need to watch out for and ask God to purify us from.
Not only did Jesus Christ humble Himself to take on humanity, but He went beyond that and “took upon Him the form of a servant” (Phil. 2:7).
