It’s been a long time since I’ve been on here, but I have
the day off today and am doing my best to intentionally slow down a bit and to
tune out some of the outside noise of email, Facebook, and many of the other
things that contribute to making so much noise, to tune into what God’s doing
in my life and to connect with Him. I wasn’t necessarily planning to write
anything but I’m hoping it will help to ease some of the things I’ve been
thinking about lately into my heart.
My church has been going through a reading plan to read the
Bible in a year, which has been fantastic, but I have to confess that I’ve
strayed pretty significantly from the plan the past month or so. That’s because
I keep coming back to Philippians 2.
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality
with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very
nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in
appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even
death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him
the name that is above every name, 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.”
I’ve read this passage over and over the past several weeks
and it continues to amaze and humble me.
Jesus, who is God, comes to Earth, and for 30 years, works
as a common carpenter, not trying to prove anything to anyone and deep inside,
not feeling the urge to elevate himself above the rest of humankind.
Meanwhile, when I walk into a room, I automatically start
comparing myself to others and trying to convince myself (and usually the
others in the room) of my worth as a human being so that they’ll like me and
accept me.
I remember working at Chick-fil-a one summer as a part of a
sort of mission trip and almost feeling embarrassed that I worked there. I
wanted to wear a sign that told people that I went to one of the top
universities in the nation and that I was just working there for the summer as ministry.
I was certainly more skilled, smarter, and better looking than the average Joe
who worked in fast food.
Jesus had every right to do the same thing when He came to
Earth as a man, but he instead made himself “nothing, taking the very nature of
a servant,” and he served.
I think of the scene in Matthew 26 at Gethsemane where Judas
and the chief priests come to arrest Jesus, and this is what Jesus says to the
crowd:
“Put your sword back in its place, for all who draw the
sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he
will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels (72,000 angels!)?”
I imagine that Jesus, in this moment, was experiencing
sadness that Judas would turn him in and anger and frustration toward his
accusers, but maybe more than anything, a broken heart that they were
completely oblivious to who He was and the unconditional love that could be
theirs if they stopped hardening their hearts.
He could have opened their eyes to the legion of angels
surrounding them, or told them that it is only because of Him that they’re even
able to breathe in their next breath – He could have proved Himself to them,
but He didn’t.
Instead, He submits himself to them in order to display the
greatest act of love and service the world will ever see.
I think one of the main reasons that I try to prove myself
to myself and to others is that I’m not completely convinced of who I am and
who God says that I am. So as a result, I often play the people-pleasing game
and leave conversations and social interactions depressed because I imagine
they probably didn’t get the perception of me that I wanted them to.
But Jesus is so confident of who He is in the Father that
there’s no need to prove himself to others, and he is thus free to love and
serve.
-CK
