𝐀 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐒 𝐀 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐘 𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐃.

They fought over positions, who is the greatest while the King was on His way to the cross.

While Jesus Christ was preparing to bleed, His disciples were arguing about who would be greatest.

𝑳𝒖𝒌𝒆 𝟐𝟐:𝟐𝟒-𝟐𝟕 𝑵𝑨𝑺𝑩𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟓
[𝟐𝟒] 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕. [𝟐𝟓] 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑯𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎, “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎; 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 ‘𝑩𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔.’ [𝟐𝟔] 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒕. [𝟐𝟕] 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒔? 𝑰𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆? 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒔.

Not who would serve more but who would sit higher. Ownership. Entitlement. Title. 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲.

𝑳𝒖𝒌𝒆 𝟐𝟐:𝟐𝟔 𝑵𝑨𝑺𝑩𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟓
[𝟐𝟔] 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒕.

𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗮 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗻. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘂𝗽. But here’s what we missed and thought ministry is all about. 𝗔 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲, 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲.

Some people today treat their calling like a crown. “My ministry.” “My platform.” “My people.” 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗪𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗜𝗧’𝗦 𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗦 𝗪𝗘'𝗩𝗘 𝗔𝗟𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗬 𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗣𝗣𝗘𝗗 𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗡𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧.

𝗕𝗘𝗖𝗔𝗨𝗦𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗨𝗥𝗖𝗛 𝗕𝗘𝗟𝗢𝗡𝗚𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗖𝗛𝗥𝗜𝗦𝗧. 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗦 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗖𝗛𝗥𝗜𝗦𝗧. 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗚𝗟𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗥𝗘𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗖𝗛𝗥𝗜𝗦𝗧.

𝗪𝗘’𝗥𝗘 𝗔 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥. 𝗔 𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗗. 𝗔 𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗔𝗡𝗧. 𝗔 𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸𝘀 𝗶𝗻.

𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝗝𝗘𝗦𝗨𝗦 𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗖𝗛𝗢𝗦𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗠. 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐭. 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝.

This is the Gospel: 𝐖𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐖𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭.

𝐒𝐨 𝐢𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐚 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐩𝐢𝐭, 𝐚 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦, 𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥, 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬.

𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐰. 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩. 𝐏𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐮𝐬, 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲.