7He told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they would choose the best places for themselves: 8“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, don’t sit in the place of honor, because a more distinguished person than you may have been invited by your host. 9The one who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then in humiliation, you will proceed to take the lowest place.
Luke 14:7-14
10 “But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when the one who invited you comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ You will then be honored in the presence of all the other guests. 11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
12He also said to the one who had invited him, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors, because they might invite you back, and you would be repaid. 13On the contrary, when you host a banquet, invite those who are poor, maimed, lame, or blind. 14And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
9He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else: 10“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee was standing and praying like this about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like other people — greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’
Luke 18:9-14
13 “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest and saying, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner! ’ 14I tell you, this one went down to his house justified rather than the other, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The Created Order Is Shiny
Sounds so easy.
Jesus fills our soul.
Follow Jesus.
Sacrifice yourself.
Be exalted by God.
Except it is not! The created order is just too shiny. We want what God’s good creation to us has to offer.
Being the head of the table.
Being the best.
Having the recognition.
Accomplishing everything we can accomplish.
So we push and claw and fight our way to the top. We do what we can to be acknowledged. We think fighting our way to the top will fill our soul.
How do I know?
Because this is me too.
Why We Fight To Be at the Top
We fight our way to the top so that we can be exalted. Ultimately, we lack what we think we want and we will do what we can to get it.
Jesus told these two parables to teach leaders they don’t need to scratch and claw to be exalted. When we scratch and claw, we always leave marks on others.
Both parables have the same application…
Those who exalt themselves will be humbled.
Those who humble themselves will be exalted.
Level 5 Leader
Jim Collins in Good to Great found this same principle at play when they found the Level 5 leader. Collins didn’t want anything in the book about the leaders. He wanted to find the Good to Great companies. However, his team pushed back on him. The type of leader mattered.
Level 4 leaders were the leaders who wanted the limelight. They had the articles written about them.
Level 5 leaders were the leaders who had almost zero written about them. However, they were the ones who turned the companies around. Level 5 leaders had a huge ambition…and huge humility. They were ambitious about the mission. Not about their name in lights.
Jesus created us to find out Life in our soul comes from this counterintuitive leadership. To be exalted means to humble yourself first.
Humility in Practice
You cannot declare yourself humble. By definition, that is not humility. Good thing Jesus gave us some practical advice on how to be humble and ambitious…
- Discipline yourself to sit at the foot of the table. Don’t look for the high up position. Look to be the servant. Let someone else exalt you.
- Invite those who can’t invite you back. Spend time with those who could never repay the time you spend with them.
- Refuse to look down on others. Climbing the ladder often happens on the backs of others. Refuse to look down on people, instead recognize you have no position before God…except the position he gives you you.
Sacrifice is Leadership. It’s not easy. But it is simple. When we discipline ourselves to be ambitious and humble, we will find exaltation in the long term.
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