Matthew 20:24-28 Leading by Serving
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: June 4, 2019 Matthew 20:24-28
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
(Understanding the Text / Revelation of God) We humans get an idea in our head and even when we find out that it is wrong, it is so ingrained that it keeps popping up in various ways over and over. The disciples had an idea of leadership that Jesus was trying to change, but it seemed as if the disciples just couldn’t make the switch over while Jesus lived. Maybe it was because they couldn’t clearly see how much Jesus had condescended to serve already. They just saw a man like them growing in power. As far as they were concerned, Jesus was a rising star gaining more and more power. That’s why His actions were sometimes incomprehensible to them, like when He sent away the people after the miraculous feeding rather than let them crown Jesus as king. They did not see that Jesus had gone from the majesty of heaven to this world impoverished and broken by sin to be the child of poverty-stricken parents and associate with uncouth violent men in order to serve them.
(Understanding the Text) James and John had totally misunderstood everything about Jesus’ mission, but so had the other ten disciples. The other disciples were indignant because they were looking for power and glory also. They were looking for positions in an earthly kingdom, and thought that the two brothers were trying to step over their associates for political advantage.
Evidently, the disciples were in a group separated from Jesus arguing about what the mother of James and John had done. Jesus saw the problem and called them to come over to where He was. Then He gave them a lecture about being servants and treating each other with equality.
The disciples had been raised in a hierarchal society with the emperor at the top and everyone else deriving power from him on down to the lowest slave. Having power over others around you was important. The idea that they were all equals with no one more powerful than the others was foreign to their culture and thinking. Jesus would have to reinforce this idea again and again. We take it for granted living in the U.S. that we can be leaders and servants at the same time and that we can be in a group together and all lead out, but for many cultures this is a foreign idea. I wonder if that was what was going on with the meeting last year where the the witnessing group that I was in wanted to appoint formal leaders. I think that they were uncomfortable with my leading as a peer leader and were trying to get a more hierarchal system. I think when I did not fight for leadership but supported other people being the formal leaders and then just went back to doing what I had already been doing, it confused them. That may have contributed to two of my friends’ unhappiness with the church. Maybe, that is the problem with a lot of churches that argue over who will be leaders and not.
I’m not sure that my concept of leadership is good either. My concept is the American idea of teamwork with each person capable of leading in a pinch even though there is a captain for the team. Each person has defined areas of work but if need be can cover the other person’s area of work. What is the downside of this style? Since it is of the world, I assume that there is a problem with it, but since it is my own culture, I cannot see the downside. Oh, I got it. We think we are just as good as everybody else and include God in that. We don’t reverence God as we should because we can’t conceive of a hierarchal structure that is good. We understand Jesus as servant and equal, but we do not truly understand what it means for Jesus to be the King of kings or Lord of our life with the right to pronounce judgments on us. Also, we look at each other as equals on a team with clearly defined duties that allow us to work together rather than looking at ourselves as servants of the rest of the team.
(Application / Revelation of God) We Americans are too proud to be servants to others who are undeserving of service. We don’t mind serving someone who is great because service to that greatness actually lifts us up, but to be a servant to someone undeserving is a horror to us. We feel that it lowers us. God, on the other hand, serves us, and we are as low as you can get, yet it does not lower God. Presently, I can only serve others happily if I look on it as serving Jesus since serving Him elevates me. I don’t necessarily see this attitude as wrong, but the converse is that I have a hard time serving someone that I think is underserving and that attitude is wrong. Jesus doesn’t have any difficulties serving those who are undeserving. I guess the key is loving them so much that it is not about being lorded over, but it’s about meeting the needs of someone that I love. I think, maybe, I won’t be able to understand the lessons that God wants me to understand very well until I reach the point of loving the undeserving so much that I want to serve them.
(Prayer) Teach me to serve as You do without ego and looking for advancement. I want to love others as You do, but a part of me does not care, so I forget about them and their needs when my own wants and needs come to the forefront of my mind. Transform me so that I lead as You want me to out of humility and not by power.