Clean Hands // Standing Out From the Crowd, Part 5

A Different Perspective Official Podcast

What we do says so much about who we are. We can do things – selfishly or selflessly. We can stab people in the back, or give them a helping hand. In fact it’s what we say and do that makes us stand out from the crowd.

When was the last time someone did something for you? I mean something really special, something that they planned and executed purely because they knew that it would delight you and help you or touch you in a really special way. Maybe that's happened recently or maybe it's been a long while but when someone does that, don't they just stand out from the crowd.

It may only be the smallest thing, a kind look, a word of encouragement, cooking a meal when we're sick, but the recognition, the gratitude in our hearts can last a life time. When we do something good, kind or generous or encouraging for someone, it makes us stand out from the crowd in a way that words can't describe, don't you think!

This week on the program we've been looking at what it means to stand out from the crowd for the right reasons. We live in a world where everybody is trying to get noticed, at work and at home and in our social groups. People want other people to notice them and to think well of them, we want to look good; we want to put our best foot forward so that other people will admire us.

Celebrities have become larger than life; you know the beautiful crowd or the beautiful set. The TV shows reinforce this stuff; you know the home renovations shows. Whatever culture we live in there is an epidemic of recognition sweeping the planet, people wanting to be recognised for the wrong reasons. Success - I made it, I'm there.

Earlier this week we looked at what Jesus said to His disciples when they were squabbling for recognition. Let’s have another quick look at that because it’s a great story. If you want to have a look at it, it's in the New Testament in the Bible, Mark chapter 9:

Jesus and His disciples, they came to Capernaum. When He was inside the house, he asked them, ‘What is it that you guys were arguing about on the road?’ But they kept quiet because on the way, they'd been arguing about who was the greatest.

Sitting down, Jesus called the twelve to Him and He said, ‘Look, if anyone wants to be first, you have to be the very last and the servant of all.’ He took a little child and had the child stand among them. Taking this child into His arms He said, ‘Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes Me; and whoever welcomes Me doesn't just welcome Me but the one who sent Me.’

'Teacher,’ said John, ‘We saw a man driving out demons in Your name and we told him to stop because he was not one of us.’ ‘Don't stop him,’ said Jesus, ‘No-one who's doing a miracle in My name can in the next moment turn around and say a bad thing against me, for whoever is not against us is for us. I tell you the truth, if anyone gives you just a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ, they certainly will not lose their reward.’

This is this topsy turvy thing. Jesus did it all the time and it's so counter intuitive but when you listen to Him you're going, "Yeah, He's right." He said, "You want to be first, if you want to be really first, be the servant of all." Gee, isn't that just what we were talking about at the top of the program? We can all point to people in our lives, people who have done incredible things for us, who have sacrificed, who've been there for us, who've picked us up when we were down, who held us when we wept. Those people are the ones that are first in our hearts aren't they?

My wife, Jacqui, has done so much for me, loved me when I was feeling kind of unlovable and sacrificed for me and been there for me and supported me and encouraged me. It's the people who serve us at the greatest personal cost who end up being the first in our hearts. Now if we want to stand out from the people in a crowd, we have to be servants and you know something, there is a cost to that, there is a sacrifice. It's about stepping out of the limelight, flying under the radar of recognition, not doing things to be seen, doing things just to serve.

I'll never forget moving house once and I couldn't afford a removalist so I was lugging furniture and one of the neighbours where I was moving in, walked over across the street and said, "Gidday mate, I'm here, do you want a hand?" And he worked so hard, I've never forgotten that, "I am here, can I help?" Not, "Lets catch up some time/ nice to meet you/ if you ever need a hand give me a call." Not that, he walked across the street, he said, "I'm here, I'm ready, can I help you?" but you see there's a catch. It's going to cost us something to do that, it cost him his afternoon and I'm sure he was pretty tired and sore when we finished.

There's always a cost. When we get of our pedestal, when we get off this success, "I want to be first, I want to be the top of the heap" and we say, "You know something, Jesus is right. I'm going to do something for someone." There is a sacrifice and a cost, Jesus put it this way, He said:

Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies it remains only a single seed but if it dies it produces much grain.

You see, standing out from the crowd isn't about being first, it's not about being on top of the pile, it's not about people saying, "Isn't he wonderful/ isn't she wonderful." It's not about recognition, it's not about how well we dress, it's not about the outer things. In this dog eat dog world standing out from the crowd is rolling up our sleeves and loving people with what we do. It's true in families, it's true in our social lives, it's true at work.

Can I tell you after I became a Christian fifteen years ago and I was still in business, how much more business I won because I learned how to serve people instead of having this ego that had to be fed by everyone else and I thought, "If only I'd had this attitude of a servant earlier". And what happened for me in this consulting practice where I'd go into organisations and help people, is it became such a joy to be able to fly under the radar, under public recognition and just help people and organisations do things and succeed. If only I'd had this attitude of being a servant, being last to be first so much earlier.

Jesus is the Son of God and He came to serve not to be served, to give His life as a ransom for many. It cost Him everything, His reputation, it cost Him pain, it cost Him His life. God wants us to love people not just with words but with our actions, with the goodness of getting in there and sacrificing and doing things for other people and sometimes they're just little things, sometimes they're just getting off our backsides and walking across the street and taking a meal to someone who's just come home from hospital.

It's those little things, those things we do with other people and for other people, that's what makes us stand out from the crowd. It's not about success, it's about significance and the paradox is that standing out from the crowd happens when we step out of the limelight. Standing out from the crowd is not about being first but by being last. Standing out from the crowd, by ultimately, being prepared to lose everything.

Can I encourage you to hear Jesus words today, "If you want to be first, you have to be the servant of all." The greatest one among you will be the least, the one who's prepared to lose their reputation and just fly in under the radar and love people with the love of Christ. Jesus' way is so different to the world’s way but in our hearts, in our hearts it rings true. He has it right - Jesus.