A couple of things recently led me to spend time thinking about Jesus' teaching on servanthood. I have written about servanthood previously here and here. My most recent thinking (and this post) has much to do with those thoughts.
Terri wrote a couple of papers in her doctoral program last year (one an exegetical and the other a theological paper . . . both over in the Scholar's Corner) on Jesus' servanthood teaching in Mark. This past Sunday I went with her as she taught part 2 of a series to a Sunday school class at a local Methodist Church on this topic (as an aside, I find it ridiculous she can't teach at our own church based on gender, but that's another post).
Terri began with a visual illustration of the power structure in gospel times as a pyramid (unfortunately I can't diagram this post as I'd like) with the ruling class on top followed by the retainer class (trying to retain their power) followed by the peasantry followed by the servants followed by the expendables. She then went through the three stories of Jesus predicting his death and resurrection, the disciples' failure to understand, and Jesus' drawing the disciples in to teach them (Mk. 8:31-9:13; 9:30-37; 10:32-45). Her focus was on Jesus' insistence that the disciples disregard the current power/authority structure altogether and take on the role of servants. The disciples were busy wanting to know who would be the greatest or whether they could sit at Jesus' right and left. Jesus was teaching about suffering for the sake of God and others. This message remains important today as so many people look to climb the ladder of success (both within the church as well as outside the church). Achieving status (getting to the top of the pyramid), no matter our motives of the good we might do once there, should not be our goal. Our goal should be to serve others that God would be glorified.
Reflecting on that power/authority pyramid led me to question what the model should look like based on Jesus' teaching. Is it a pyramid with the "expendables" on top? Is it a flat line? Understanding Jesus to be teaching that we should be advocating for those without voice, serving others who are in need, seeing God glorified through our humility in seeking the good of others, etc., I think the result would be people constantly elevating others who in turn seek to elevate others. The result? A circle. However, a circle comes up a bit short when we consider the number of individuals serving (i.e. elevating) others as they in turn do the same. The result, as I see it, is a web which I refer to as the web of interconnectedness. It is a circle but the circle also crosses from side to side, top to bottom, etc. It is this willingness to let a web "be created" that excites/intrigues me most about the emerging church. Out of the seeming chaos of individuals looking to advocate on behalf of those without voice, attempting to meet the needs of others, and seeking to worship God in all his glory emerges a community.
Joel recently asked whether community or mission comes first (jumping off from a post by Kevin) and proffered that the two are flip sides of the same coin. If the purpose of the Church is to glorify God and worship Him (which I believe it is), we accomplish that through community and mission. If we focus only on community, we can become closed. If we focus only on mission, we can become burned out. We need both.
So how does the community/mission question fit into the web of interconnectedness? What does my friend need who has recently lost her husband? Family, support, love, meals, etc. That is community. What does my friend need who has no use for God and simply seeks his own highest good? A personal relationship with God. That is mission. As we seek to serve others in the model of Jesus, we live out community and mission simultaneously. It must be both/and if we are truly following the example of Jesus. Maybe rather than focusing on community or mission (especially to the exclusion of the other) we focus on elevating and serving others and seeking out ways to do so both within and outside the Church and both within our personal sphere of relationships and on the other side of the world. There are great implications for this.
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