This capitalist system that we live in has it backward: In most workplaces, the people who are most valued are the ones who have succeeded in placing themselves above the day-to-day work that enables that organization or business to fulfill its mission and thrive.
The CEO of the burger joint gets celebrated and gets all of the perks that come with that title, but people don’t come to a burger joint because of the CEO; they eat there because the people sweating behind the grill know how to make a great burger.
That does not mean a CEO isn’t invaluable to a company or an organization. What it does mean is that the best CEOs realize they would not be where they are if it were not for the people who actually do the work for which that business or organization exists. And so they take on the attitude of a servant, not carrying themselves as above or better than everyone else, but as a person rolling up their sleeves and doing their part with their colleagues so that the company or organization can in turn serve the needs of its customers and community.
Matthew 20 contains the story of a mother who asks Jesus if her two sons could hold privileged positions next to him when he enters the kingdom of heaven. He first asks the sons if they are willing to “drink the cup that I am about to drink,” or in other words, bear the same cross that he is prepared to bear. They say they are. But then Jesus says they will indeed drink from that cup, but doling out positions of privilege are not for him to do; that is the sole province of God.
Then he draws the contrast between how systems of power and privilege operate and how the reign of God operates. Gentile leaders, he says in effect, use their positions to manipulate and exploit others for their own gain. “It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant … just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
There is, in fact, real power in being the one who serves. Servants are the ones who can touch lives and change them for the better. They know how the world works and why it often doesn’t. And because they know people and the systems in which they operate, servants can use collective power to upend those systems when they are used for exploitation and oppression.
Most importantly, people who live their lives in the spirit of a servant at their best represent the core of Jesus’ message: The most important commandment we must follow in life is to love God, each other, and ourselves.