Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Mark’s Gospel records this teaching: “And Jesus called them to him and said to them, ‘You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’” (Mark 10:42-45)
The Greek word translated “great ones” there is megas, from which we get our modern appellation: “mega.” We use mega to talk about anything that’s oversized, top shelf, top of the stack, bigger and better than the rest.
The rulers of the Gentiles were their mega men, so to speak. They were the powerful executives, the elite. Their word was law, and they had the power to punish all disobedience. They could wring from their subjects the compliance they were after. That’s what it means when the text above says they “exercise authority over them.” They dominate them, or “lord it over them.”
The Old Testament is filled with stories of the clash between God’s people and mega men. Kings like Pharoah, Nebuchadnezzar, and the king of Tyre Ezekiel railed against, who all thought they were gods — they learned to think differently.
Jesus was telling his disciples that his own rule would be different. He told his ethnically Jewish followers he was not about to turn them into Gentile-style mega men.
They would go on to be leaders in his kingdom (minus Judas, of course). But they wouldn’t be mega men. They would be Christ-like men. They would be servants to their followers, not lords over them.
Just know that when you pray the words, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,” you are not praying that your team, your political compatriots, will finally gain the power to impose an agenda on everyone else. You’re praying for a day, not when your men become mega men, but when mega men are cast upon the ash heap of history, no longer needed or wanted.
Christ’s kingdom is about servant-leadership, not rule by executive authority. Jesus led his own people by washing their feet, not coercing their wills. He led them by dying for them, then rising from the grave.
He now calls all men everywhere (including mega men) to repent, and find forgiveness in his name.
At the risk of sounding over-the-top here, I assert that the kingdom of Christ is at war with all mega men, wherever they are found. Mega men, whether in civil government or in churches, families, businesses, or civic volunteer organizations, are all on the chopping block. To all of them, the sobering admonition of Psalm 2 is still directed:
“Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” (Psalm 2:10-12)
Gordan Runyan is pastor of Tucumcari’s Immanuel Baptist Church and author of “Radical Moses: The Amazing Civil Freedom Built into Ancient Israel.” Contact him at: