The Ministry of Meekness

In his Imitation of Christ, Thomas a Kempis said, "A true understanding and humble estimate of oneself is the highest and most valuable of all lessons. To take no account of oneself, but always to think well and highly of others is the highest wisdom and perfection. Should you see another person openly doing evil, or carrying out a wicked purpose, do not on that account consider yourself better than him, for you cannot tell how long you will remain in a state of grace. We are all frail; consider none more frail than yourself."

Is it not true that, too often, we esteem ourselves highers than others? We see others as the ones with problems; the ones who need fixing. And, therefore, it reasons that we can not condescend to their level, or sacrifice our precious time to help them in their hour of need. We become self-important and self-serving.

But isn't the very call of Christ a call to servanthood? He said of Himself that "the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). And although He was God, He humbled Himself as a man and did not consider equality with God something to be grasped (Philippians 2:6). He gave us the ultimate example of servanthood and calls us to follow Him in it.

It was on this subject that Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, "He who would learn to serve must first learn to think little of himself... Only he who lives by the forgiveness of his sin in Jesus Christ will rightly think little of himself. He will know that his own wisdom reached the end of its tether when Jesus forgave him."

He called this our Ministry of Meekness. I believe he was right, and that it's only when we adopt a correct view of ourselves that we become able to truly serve others. This is not to say that we should adorn a depressive, hateful view of ourselves, but rather a right view. Romans 12:3 calls the Christian "not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment." The Apostle Paul exhorts the brethren to "do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others" (Philippians 2:3-4).

This week, let us begin to view ourselves in a proper light. Let us take time to consider the needs of others and let us view our brothers and sisters as more significant than ourselves.