Servant of Servants

12 June 2007 – Servant of Servants

1 Kings 12:7

“If you are willing to be a servant to these people today and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your loyal subjects.”

Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, who inherit the position of the King of Israel, had made a wrong mistake for his position matters. He made himself a cruel ruler, an unreasonable leader and a selfish king! The main thing that causes the supporters of Rehoboam left into two tribes, i.e. Judah and Benjamin is because he is not willing to be a servant to his servants!

How can this be reasonable by saying servant of servants? How can servants be loyal to a servant? In 1 Kings, the old advisor of King Solomon advised Rehoboam to be a servant to those people. How can a respectful and a king full of pride become a servant to others? Impossible! This is what we thought often normally, we often raise ourselves up to a position that is higher than anyone, and refuse to be kind with the people under us, the workers and subordinate will start expressing their unsatisfactory to their boss which at the end refuse to follow the boss.

But if the story is the other way round, if the boss lowered himself among the subordinates, the subordinates will find their boss very kind person and in no words, they are willing to be a loyal subjects of the boss! It is just the difference of the attitude, which leads to different endings. This is the lesson that we ought to learn in life today.

Philipians 2:3-5

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

What is meant by the same attitude that Christ Jesus had? Or I put I like this, what is the attitude of Christ Jesus? He is a humble man, a gentle man; he did not utter a word of complaining when he was being humiliated and tortured. Though he was God, but he did not think an equality to God that people should honor him everywhere he went.

Mark 10:45

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Can you see that even God himself comes to serve people? Doing such not only for us to see, but he wants us to make him as an example to the people outside, your friends, colleagues, subordinates, parents, leader and all people around you. Once you make yourself low to others, others will become loyal subjects of you! At the end you are being honored back again! Without any argument!

Franco