Many of the newly rich want to hire individuals to manage their busy lifestyle.
Humble servants are in demand, at least according to the New York Times. The newspaper reports that within the past decade the number of American households worth $10 million or more has quadrupled. Many of these newly rich want to hire individuals to help manage their large homes and busy lifestyles. In order to meet this demand, Mary L. Starkey started a personal business she calls The International Institute for Household Management
Mary, however, has a difficult job; the reason being that she is trying to turn ordinary people into humble servants. Nevertheless, with household managers earning $60,000 to $120,000 a year, applications are at an all-time high. But keep in mind, humble servanthood is not easy to learn.
The training for this job involves mastering the mundane aspects of running a large household. Things like dealing with trades and outside vendors, taking cooking classes, learning how to set a formal dinner table, and oh yes, let’s not forget the art of ironing table linens so that they are crisp and wrinkle free.
Mrs. Starkey found that the most difficult aspect of training others to be servants was the element of self-denial. Why? Because humble servants don’t draw attention to themselves; their only goal is to meet the needs of others.
Hey, maybe we could learn something about humility from Jesus. Would you like to meet the most humble servant to ever walk the planet? Look no further, Jesus is the model.
According to Philippians 2:7 MSG, Jesus set aside the privileges of Deity and took on the status of a humble slave. The key word in this passage is the Greek word kenosis which means “to empty oneself or make oneself nothing.” He voluntarily emptied Himself of the independent expression of His divine attributes. Jesus’ decision to surrender these prerogatives is the essence of what it means to be humble.
Of course there are many other ways in which Jesus modeled what it really means to be humble. He readily associated with outcasts; He mingled with lepers, traversed strictly guarded ethnic barriers and always seemed to care for the poor. His unguarded humility was displayed for all to see and usually cut across the grain of the religious people of His day. His final act of humility was His greatest, that is, His death on the cross.
So, you want to be humble do you? Good; humble servants are in demand. Just ask Mary Starkey. Maybe her business of training humble servants wasn’t a bad idea after all!
Jesus is in the business of training humble servants. Are you one of His? Start by humbling yourself before God, and then let that same attitude flow out to all of your other relationships. You’ll be glad you did because humble servants are in always in demand.
Hey Coach John
Works Cited: New York Times (10-24-99)
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