Matthew 20:26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister
Richard Griffin was a Royal Protection Officer for Queen Elizabeth. He was responsible for being her bodyguard. He relates a story about taking a walk with the queen outside the castle in Scotland. One day they bumped into a couple of American hikers who did not recognize the queen as she was dressed. They said to her after some conversation, “Have you ever met the queen?” She said, “No, I’ve not, but Richard here has met her quite often.” Well, the hikers were just overjoyed and turned their attention to the queen’s bodyguard instead of the queen, not knowing that it was the queen. They asked him, “Have you met her?” He replied, “Yes, I have.” The hikers go on, “What is she like?” “Well,” he said, “She is a little cantankerous, but she has a lovely sense of humor.”
Now if we were the king or queen, we would want to be recognized as the king or queen. It does no good if we are not. Hierarchies are not wrong. They are in nature. If you have a group of horses, there is a hierarchy there. In life, both tradition and hierarchies are part of what help us understand what a home, family, and government should be. When governments are thrown off, they are oftentimes replaced by tyrannies that are worse than the government that was thrown off if they don’t understand that someone has got to be responsible for the nation.
My question for you is not, “Are you in a hierarchy?” but “How do you view that?” If you view a hierarchy as something where you get ahead and it is all to benefit you, then you are thinking wrong. We owe respect where it is due, but we also need to remember that our position is not given to us to benefit us, but for us to serve other people.
The Lord Jesus makes this very plain in Matthew 20. What had started this off was that Jesus had been talking about the fact that it is difficult for rich people to enter Heaven because they tend to trust their virtue and riches instead of God’s Son. In reply to what Jesus said, Peter replied, “Lord, we have left everything. We are not rich. What are we going to get?” That is the mindset. Maybe today you are thinking, “I’m important. What do I get?” Later, a couple of the disciples came to Jesus and essentially asked through their mother, “Hey, when we get to the kingdom, can we be the most important people there?” That was totally missing Who Jesus is and what it means to be serving with Him.
Jesus basically reminds us that we can follow one of two models. In Matthew 20:25 we find the first model. It is what the Bible calls “princes.” It says, “But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.” Maybe your thinking is, “What do I get? How can I be important?” You look at people who have great power and you want that power because it will enrich, enable, or profit you. That is the wrong way of looking at it. That is what the princes of the Gentiles did.
The second option is to follow the King of Kings, Jesus Himself. In verse 28 Jesus says, “Even as the son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” I can either follow those who are rich, powerful, and prominent so I can get my way or I can follow the leadership of the Lord Jesus, Who is above all and in all who have trusted Him, and serve as He has.
Verse 26 says, “But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister.” You can’t always be in charge, and even if you are right now, the day will come when you will be weakened or dead. Those who are under your control now will rise to prominence and power. You can’t always be lord, but you can always serve. Are you doing that today? What is it that drives your mindset today? What if you get no credit? What if you are not receiving the deference you think you should? Don’t posture or step on others. Realize that your model produces your behavior. The model that we should be following today is the Lord Jesus.