Towels not Titles
Judas was about to commit one of the most heinous and famous betrayals of all time. Judas is about to betray the greatest man to ever walk the earth. Judas is about to betray the man who was his mentor, friend and savior. Before this betrayal occurs, Jesus sits down with his followers for a meal. This meal has been talked about, portrayed and studied for generation after generation. As this meal was coming to a close, Jesus; the King of Kings, the greatest man to ever walk the earth, the one who will have every knee bow and every tongue confess that He is God, gets up from the table, grabs a towel, fills a bucket with water and begins washing the feet of his followers.
Prayer must be first in all that we do and it has to cover all that we do, but too often Christians have hid inaction and change behind the guise of "prayer". Yes we need to pray to live diverse lives that fulfill Jesus' prayer in John 17:21, but we also need to take some action to see it happen. Jesus did not just pray that His followers would go make disciples of all nations, He put practice into His prayers. He humbled Himself to serve those that clearly should have been serving Him. This humility requires action. The action required begins with an inward change before we will see outward change. We must be willing to take up towels before we take on titles.
C.S. Lewis said, "There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which everyone in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; & of which hardly any people, except Christians ever imagine that they are guilty themselves...I do not think I have ever heard anyone who not a Christian accuse himself of this vice. And at the same time I have very seldom met anyone, who was not a Christian, who showed the slightest mercy to it in others...There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular, & no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others." If you didn't already know, the vice that C.S. Lewis was speaking about is pride.
Pride possibly contributes to division more than any other personal attribute. Pride divides even more than hate. Pride says, "I am right. I am better. I am not willing to help, sacrifice or inconvenience myself for anyone other than myself." Pride comes before a fall (Proverbs 16:18), but humility comes before unity.
If you want to find out how much pride you have, ask yourself ‘How much do I dislike it when other people snub me, or refuse to take any notice of me, or patronize me or show off in my presence???" Our negative response to those actions may feel justifiable, we must go deeper and ask ourselves why those things bother us so much. If we dig deep enough, we will find that the answer is connected to pride.
It is one thing to identify the prideful, arrogant, selfish ways in which we think and act. It is a whole other thing to abolish that pride and live humbly. The greatest outline for what it means to be humble is found in Philippians chapter 2.
The first step to biblical humility in Philippians chapter 2 is found in verse 6, which says, "who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped." The first step, that cannot be skipped, in the journey to biblical humility is to be confident in who we are. This may sound counterintuitive, however if we are unaware or unsure of who we are, we will continually slip into pride trying to find ourselves or prove ourselves. Once we know and are confident in who God has made us to be, we have nothing to prove and therefore we can stop looking at only our own interests, and begin considering the interests of others (vs 4).
The second step laid out in Philippians chapter 2 for biblical humility is found in verse 7. Philippians chapter 2, verse 7 says, "but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men." Once we are confident in who we are, we must empty ourself to serve others. This is where most people connect with their definition of humility. The challenge is to empty ourself. Many are willing to pour portions of themselves out for others, however few are willing to empty themselves to serve others. Biblical humility is willing to empty ourself, not just pour portions of ourself out for the benefit of others.
The third step given in Philippians chapter 2 is found in verse 8 which reads, "And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Jesus chose to humble himself. He did this through sacrificial obedience...even to the point of death on a cross. He was literally willing to humble himself in obedience to God even when it cost Him His life. We must choose to humble ourself (so that we don't have to be humbled lol) in the same way; through obedience to God. Biblical humility is being willing to obey God's commands to love, forgive, have compassion, bless, disciple and do good to others. Biblical humility is willing to do this even when it comes at a personal cost.
When it comes to living a more diverse life and being the people that fulfill Jesus' prayer in John chapter 17, verse 21, we must be people of humility. We must humble ourselves by being confident in who God has made us to be. We do not need to be less White, less Black, less Hispanic or less Asian, we need to be less prideful. We need to have a humble confidence in who God has made us to be. This means that we have a Godly perspective on how much God loves us while at the same time recognizing that God also loves others who aren't like us with the same love. When we don't have to be "right", we can begin to realize where we are "wrong".
We must be willing to empty ourselves in order to serve others. We must be willing to empty our preconceived notions, our need for comfort and our fears of what may happen. We must be willing to empty ourselves of what we think is the best way, or the meaning of, or the reasons for and listen to learn the ways we can serve each other. When we are empty of ourself, we are ready to be filled by the beauty of diversity.
We must be willing to choose to obey God...no matter the cost. The truth of the scripture is that God desires unity. God requires unity. God even commands unity. Are we willing to love our neighbor, our enemy and those who are out to get us or are we going to only love our family, our friends and those who do right by us? Are we going to stay in the comfort of our comfort zone or are we willing to go into ALL the world and make disciples of all NATIONS? That is an obedience question each of us have to answer.
Titles bring influence, prestige and even money, however they do not sustain unity. Towels do not bring many external benefits, however they can bring transformational unity. Let's be people that lay down our titles and pick up our towels to bring the unity that Jesus prayed for!