You usually know who is boss by those who are being served. Countries have their kings, and they have their servants. So too, do businesses, even churches. For years I was the Sr. Pastor in a church with staff members and volunteers responding to my directions and doing what I asked of them. “I can’t say no to the pastor,” people would tell me as they responded to my requests for service in the church. One man said, “A ‘no’ to my pastor might place me in spiritual peril.”
Those who work for us know they can’t say no to us. It could get them fired. Everyone knows who is boss by who is being served.
Yet Jesus turned this way of thinking on its ear. He was a servant king. He showed his kingship through service. He said “yes” to our great need for salvation by giving of himself. I am most like Jesus when I give and serve, when service flows purely from my personality, and when I do this naturally and without conscious thought. On the other hand, I am most spiritually poor when I feel entitled to be king, top dog at work, or king of my castle.
When I feel like a big shot, I know I’m in dangerous spiritual territory. I am always blessed when I reorient my life to King Jesus and live more like him, a servant- always a servant with Jesus as my forever King.
At Christmas, we celebrate Jesus as Messiah. We sing and worship saying he is King of King and Lord of Lord. When he's on the throne of my life, I'm in a good place.
