When Paul wrote in Philippians 2:5 that our “attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus,” what was he expecting us to do? We usually respond, “Be humble like Jesus,” but what does that mean? Too often we reduce humility to the idea of simply not taking credit for something we’ve done or to brush off compliments or the thanks that others want to give us. We know we’ve done something well, and it makes us feel just a bit better to say, “It was no big deal.” But that doesn’t seem like the response we would get from Jesus, considering the praise he receives in Revelation 5:12: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”
In Philippians 2:6-8, Paul uses the words servant and obedient. To Jesus, humility is a matter of obedience. Although Jesus is God, he took himself out of his role as the supreme authority over all of creation and became a servant. This is a largely foreign concept to many of us, but servants take orders. Good servants obey orders. Someone once said, “The true test of a servant is how you react when someone treats you like one.” How do you respond to the appeals to help around the church? Are there needs you’d rather not meet? Do you step up to help out even when you really don’t want to? That kind of submission is true humility.
We are called to be servants. The Great Commission explains that part of the process of making disciples is to teach people to obey everything that Jesus commanded. Jesus himself said in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” Jesus ties our love for God, our love for other people, and our purpose as his disciples to simple obedience.
As we work together as the body of Christ, as brothers and sisters in Christ, we must not forget that we are all servants of Christ. While our attitudes ought to be reflect “it was no big deal” whenever we serve, that attitude must come from a submissive, obedient spirit.