""And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve." – Luke 22:25-26

Contrast! It is so … clashing!

We try to meld, but not so much that we don't push ourselves to the front or climb over others to get to the top.

Into that context, Jesus introduces a counter-cultural, counter-intuitive jab in the sides of our psyches, "Ye shall not be so."

How can it be? How does it work? What if it doesn't work? What do I have to gain or lose?

More important is the question: How can I change my thinking about this?

Ye shall not be so.

It is the parent saying to the children of the household, "You are a [insert family name]. Wherever you go, you represent this family. Whatever the other children do, you [insert behavior]. In our family, we [insert behavior again] and we don't [insert negative behavior to be avoided]. Do you understand?"

And the children nod – and will need to be reminded … and so will we.

We don't want to be different and we don't want to be left behind in the rat race.

It is a tall order not to be pushy when we are being shoved in every direction and the push seems to be working for others. It is a hard thing not to try to win by intimidation when there is so much of it going on. It is extremely difficult not to play the game by the same rules that seem to be accepted by the majority of the players.

It is also tough to turn into the skids when we hit a patch of ice …

… but it is the only way to regain traction.

The path of servant leadership is a bit untraveled, but it is the path of authenticity. The badge of  a Jesus follower is service.