Words from WW Blog

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3)

If everyone agreed with me on everything, the world would be a much more “uninteresting” place to be a resident of. Debate and differing views create conversation, contemplation, and competition. I mean, if everyone were Boston Celtics fans, what would be the point of sports talk radio? If everyone had the same political viewpoints, resulting in there being just one political party, there wouldn’t be the need for questioning decisions. If all religions had the same beliefs, there would be no need for temples, mosques, churches and other types of religious places, since everyone would be on the same page on how they view the relationship between divinity and humanity.

But, thank God, there is diversity in how each of us views the world. We differ, and it is in our differences that we experience the challenge of compromise, the option of giving in, and the lure of getting everyone to agree with our personal opinion or want.

That lure of agreement is a driving force in today’s culture, whether it be in organizations, individual preferences, or corporation boardrooms. We want people to agree with us. There is nothing inherently wrong with that…if it ended there. However, there is something about our human nature that won’t let finding agreement be the end of things.

There is the lure of making those who disagree with us look like idiotic, out-of-touch, crazies. Such desires push us toward hints of arrogance, insensitivity, and caustic remarks. It’s no longer about winning the argument on what is the right way to do something, but rather showing how wrong opposing views are. Showing the error in a disagreeing view widens the gap between my way and the other way. It validates my superiority and the inferiority of the others.

But it’s also the lure of selfish ambition and the hidden deception of personal agendas. We all want our way. It’s as evident as trying to get our grandkids to agree on which fast food restaurant they would like us to take them to. It’s as blatant as opening our mailbox everyday in the month before a political campaign and finding the bulk of the mail consisting of how a certain candidate is such a loser. It’s as obvious as my wife and I trying to decide what to watch on TV. Pushiness often is victorious over reasonable suggestions.

Sad to say, but churches are notorious for the inhabiting of selfish ambition. After all, it was those who spent the most time with Jesus who got into a heated conversation about who among them was going to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? We tend to clothe the disciples’ question in spiritual-sounding language that longs to impress everyone with how Christ-like our self-centered want is. Humbleness tends to disappear as the heat level in the room climbs. The second part of Philippians 2:3 is forgotten, all that “in humility value others above yourselves.”

That’s laying the groundwork for thread marks to be all over me. Laying down my life…hmmm, that sounds familiar!

This entry was posted on June 15, 2023 at 2:39 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.