Apostles, Pt. 14: "Not Another Power Struggle?"

NOT ANOTHER POWER STRUGGLE? (LUKE 22:24-27))
A friend told me an interesting but sad conflict in their church. Several years ago an elderly man was counting the church offering by himself, which is not a wise thing to do under any circumstance. When the church changed its policy to protect everyone involved, including the man and the church, by having two people counting the offering, the man felt slighted and was displeased. He took the treasurer by surprise one day by asking, “What degree do you have?” The sister innocently replied, without thinking too much about it: “Master’s degree in management.”

The man’s seething and stewing deep down caught most people unaware, but it came to a boiling point and a public showdown some time later, unfortunately, at a church member’s wedding. When the man was led to his wedding banquet table and discovered he was seated at the same table with the treasurer, he remarked to the treasurer, “You think you are very smart? I, too, have a Master’s degree, in accounting.” After that, he directed his venom at her husband, “What do you mean by never greeting me but staring at me these many years you see me at church?”

When the man was led to another table to prevent an incident, he discovered there were more people he disliked at the other table and returned to his original table. When the food arrived, his wife took a bite but was scolded by the husband: “Why do you still have the face and stomach to eat with these people?” With that, he marched off and left the banquet, his long-suffering wife hurriedly chasing behind.

The church is a hotbed for conflicts. Some of them are downright ugly. Many years ago disgruntled members of a mega-church sent out anonymous documents of its denomination and its findings in a church mediation dispute, leaving the pastor with a tarnished reputation. Most conflicts are for the worse, though some can have a good outcome. For example a mega-church had a disastrous fall-out about 10 years ago. The mass exodus of the young families, young adults and the young people resulted in a 500-strong church today, and the old church marched on without missing a beat.

The Chinese say, “If the house has peace, all things flourish; if the house is wrecked, the mouth won’t stop talking家和萬事興, 家衰口不停.”

This passage is the second conflict among the disciples spilled into the open, interestingly enough, all coming after Jesus’ disclosure about heading to Jerusalem. The first instance was the Zebedees’ brazen request to monopolize Jesus’ sides (Matt. 20:20-21). Jesus had announced his betrayal and had served the Last Supper. Now everyone wanted a piece of the pie in Jesus’ kingdom, not wanting to lose out to James and John. They wanted to be the rulers, to inherit the riches, and to reap the rewards, but Jesus had other ideas.

How should believers motivate themselves in the wake of divisions, disagreements and differences in personality and background?

Be Committed to Ignoring Competition
24 Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. (Luke 22:24)

A certain brother who lived solitary was disturbed in his mind and making his way to the abbot (Theodore of Pherme); he told him he was troubled. The old man said to him, “Go, humble thy spirit and submit thyself, and live with other men.” So he went away to the mountain and dwelt with others.

And afterwards he came back to the old man and said to him, “Nor in living with other men have I found peace.” And the old man said, “If thou canst not be at peace in solitude, nor yet with men, why didst thou will to be a monk? Was it not that thou shouldst have tribulation? Tell me now, how many years hast thou been in this habit?” And the brother said, “Eight.” And the old man said, “Believe me, I have been in this habit seventy years, and not for one day could I find peace; and thou wouldst have peace in eight?” (Macmillan Book of Earliest Christian Mediations, F. Forrester Church and Terrence J. Mulry, 16-17)

My old church asked me to write an article for their milestone anniversary. I boldly stated: “I am proud there was no church split on my shift, and no one left because of me. That is important to pastors and sensitive to me. Nowadays, church growth is overstated; keeping the church together is already an accomplishment and a success.”

Disagreements are inevitable, but divisions should be avoided.

The Greek word for “dispute” makes is its only occurrence in the Bible. It is not that hard to break down the word to know what it means. “Philo-neikia” is from two Greek words - “philos” and “neikos.” “Philos” means friend (from Philadelphia, city of brotherly love) and “nikos” (from “nike” – the sneakers) means victory, conquest or triumph. So the dispute is over who has the victory and is the overcomer, who prevails in comparison and competition, who is better and one up. Sadly, it is done among friends, brothers and associates, not with rivals, neighbors or strangers.

The clash was over who was the “greatest” - from the Greek word meizon/megas that occurs 44 times in the Bible. You say, “That’s not me! I am not that vain. I am no Muhammad Ali. I never strive to be the greatest or call myself the greatest.” To their objection and dismay, the Greek for “greatest” is also translated as “greater” (Mt 23:17, 19, Mk 12:31, Luke 7:28, 28, 22:27, Jn 1:50, 4:12, 5:20, 8:53, 10:29, 13:16, 13:16, 14:28, 15:13, 15:20, 19:11, 1 Cor 14:5, Heb 6:13, 16, 9:11, 11:26, 1 Jn 3:20, 4:4, 5:9) 25 of its 44 times, or more than half of its NIV translations. Just as readers think that they can heave a sigh of relief or breathe easy that the passage is not talking about them, the word, unfortunately, can also be translated as “more” (Jas 3:1, 4:6, 2 Pet 2:11), “largest” (Mt 133:32, Mk 4:32), “bigger” (Luke 12:18), “weightier” (Jn 5:26) and “older” (Jn 19:12). It is nothing more than a comparative word that ends up translating as “greater” for two persons and “greatest” for three or more.

People are so shallow. The interesting thing is that the dispute ultimately was not over who is actually the greatest but who is “considered” the greatest; the word “consider” is “thinking” (dokeo - docetism). The conflict was over who was the greatest “in their mind” – narrow as it is, “in their estimate” (wildest) - and “in their opinion” (biased), not their true worth, what was merited, their proven value. By the way, real worth has no need for comparison.

Be Careful of Intoxicating Control
25 Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. 26 But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. (Luke 22:24-26)

A Chinese story told of a man who had a neighbor who was a malicious brute and a terrible bully. He wanted to sell his house to get away from the fellow, but his neighbors said, “His sins will come to a head and he will get what he deserves. Why not wait a little while?’ “I am afraid,” he replied, “that his sins will come to a head - on me.”

Here are some interesting quotes about being on top:
The Greeks say: “Those whom the Gods want to destroy, they first made mad with power.”
“Always train like you’re number 2. If you train like you’re number 1, you have no place to go.”
Jamaican, Haitian and French proverb: “The higher the monkey climbs, the more you will see of his behind.”
The Chinese say, “The bigger the tree, the more inviting the winds樹大招風.”
“If you compare yourself with others, you may become bitter or vain, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself (Max Ehram, Cory 75)

The kings of the nations (ethnos) and the powers of the world have a different mindset from Christ. The Greek verb “lord it over” (kurieuo) occurs seven times in the Bible. Besides “lord it over” or “be the Lord” (v 25, Rom 14:9, 2 Cor 1:24, 1 Tim 6:15), NIV’s other translations include “mastery” (Rom 6:9) or “be your master” (Rom 6:14) and “has authority” (Rom 7:1). In today’s terms, they boss people around, not only throw their weight around but throw you under the bus if they have to. A friend working in the shoe industry said his Fortune 500 company once received a fax from Nike in BOLD: “WE”LL CRUSH YOU!” The Greek word “kurieuo” is taken from “kuros” (supremacy). The lord is not interested in mere superiority, but supremacy; he is not after deference to him, but dominance over you; he demands sole leadership, not sharing power. He wants to be the alpha dog, the 600 pound King Kong, the last one standing and the one with the last word.

After they have done what they do, in their arrogance they will call themselves benefactors or “eu-ergetes,” or literally good workers, or workers (ergon) of good (eu). They think they do it for the others’ good or benefit, for the better or greater good. There is only one thing these people like than being adored – being afraid of. They want rule, not respect; they are not about making a difference, but making a demand; they desire power, not pride; they care not about being acclaimed, but being appeased.

Being the youngest is not as scary after all. Like the word “greatest” previously, the youngest or “neos” (from “new”) (v 26) merely means newer (neh'-os) or younger, not extreme or absolute “youngest.” The word can also be translation as “new” or “young.” This time Jesus did not talk about being a child, but being young at heart, having the learning attitude of a rookie, a junior, a subordinate, a freshmen, an assistant.

Of course, most people prefer to fold their hands. “At the table” is the traditional word for “reclining” (Matt 26:7, 20, Mark 14:18 John 12:2, 13:23). It is rarely translated as “guests” (Matt 22:10, 11), “eating” (Mark 16:14) and “sitting” (John 6:11). This refers to people waiting to be served, standing around doing nothing and not lifting a finger, doing one’s part or making a contribution.

Note that Jesus did not say you “are” permanently younger but practicably “become/like” the youngest and “like” the one who serves.

Be Content to Imitate Christ
27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. (Luke 22:24-27)

Once there was a man who liked his job but whose family clamored for more and more money. The man resisted them for a long time but finally gave in and found a job that paid more but that he liked less. He worked long and hard. He changed jobs frequently and badgered his employers for higher salaries. Soon, his children enjoyed the best of everything. Yet they still made him miserable with their clamor, and the father saw that they were no happier than they had been before. Outraged, he stripped every child of its belongings. He took back the clothes and the cars. He fired the maid and the cook. He made sure they had enough to eat but spent nothing on delectables, saying, “If you can't be happy eating beans, you won't be happy eating steak.” (Speaker’s Library of Business)

The word Jesus opted for in this passage is not “slave” (doulos) but “servant” (diakonos). A diakonos is an attendant or a waiter at a table or in other menial duties. A slave is in bondage and has no choice, but a servant is a volunteer and serves of his own will, just as Jesus was not forced to come to earth but gave His life in love.

The word (diakonos) occurs 37 times in the Bible and about half of them are for the popular translation is “serve,” and the other translations include “attend” (Matt 4:11, Mark 1:13 - angels came and attended Jesus), “wait” on a person, or a waiter (Matt 8:15, Mark 1:31, Luke 4:39 - Peter's mother-in-law, who was healed, waited on Jesus; Luke 12:37 - servants who wait on a master reclining at a table; Acts 6:2, 1 Tim 3:10 – the seven deacons chosen by the early church to wait on tables and early church leaders), “care” for a person’s needs (Matt 27:55, Mark 15:41 - the women who cared for Jesus’ needs in Jerusalem), “help” (Matt 25:44 – helping those who are hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison; Acts 19:22, 2 Tim 1:118, Philem 13 – Timothy, Onesiphorus and Onesimus’ help to Paul; Heb 6:10 – help in general), “support” (Luke 8:3 – the ladies who support the disciples and Jesus out of their own means), “work” (Luke 10:40 doing the house work), “ministry” and “administer” (2 Cor 3:3, 8: 19, 20– Paul’s description of his work).

The clearer sign of a person’s spiritual growth and maturity is what he or she put into the church community and not take out of the church, not what they receive but what they give, not whether you lead but that you serve. There are two phases in Jesus’ fellowship with the disciples: (1) Be with me and (2) Be like me. The first one is the beginning, but the second one is the breakthrough. The solution to unity is not to be more like each other, but to be more like Christ.

Conclusion: It’s been said, “The purpose of religion is not to get you into heaven, but to get heaven into you.” (Frederick Ward Kates) Great minds need not think alike, but they must think of Christ and think like Christ. The church needs a fair dose of honesty and honor, but larger doses of humility and harmony. Are you properly motivated by Christ’s ministry, His meekness and mission? Are you more Christlike and less worldly? Do people see Jesus in you?