Were you in a club when you were a kid? Not a Boys Club, Girl Scouts or any other organized activity, but a neighborhood club with your friends on the block? I was in at least two, maybe three, before I turned 12 years old.

A neighborhood boy would say, “Hey, we ought to have a club!” And others would chime in with comments like, “That’s neat!” (It was a time before the word “cool” was used in our area.) The boy who originally had the idea would say, almost offhandedly, “I’ll be first president.”

And then most of the other boys would say, “Dibs on second president!” Someone else announced, “I’ll be vice president.” And then we would argue over rank. You see, we didn’t understand that the vice president was the second president. We thought he was the third president or the third person in charge.

In one of these clubs, we had a girl, and she said she would be secretary. Nobody argued about being the secretary. We thought secretaries were always girls. The truth was that the girls were the only ones who could write. We boys were learning writing, but we didn’t feel (any of us) that we could compete with her in that area.

Pride and maturity

Every person wants to be able to do something well. It doesn’t matter what it is. Sometimes it doesn’t even matter if anyone else knows about it, but to have a properly integrated personality, every human being has to feel good within him or herself about doing something well. However, this drive is too easily subverted.

For me, pride was and still is the most natural inclination of human nature.

But we are Christians. And to be a true Christian, a real Christian, we must be mature. Ephesians 4:14 and 15 indicate that our thinking cannot remain as it was when we were “kids.” Yes, we can and should be childlike in humility (Matthew 18:3), but not childish in our assessment of the world, as Paul clearly explained.

This Christian maturity is difficult and nearly impossible in the world that you and I presently inhabit. The world says: You can get away with being stupid as long as you are aggressive; you can remain unfeeling as long as you are fast; and you can roll right over others as long as you always see yourself as first president.

We need God

This has been the way of the universe since Lucifer went bad and stated in Isaiah 14:14, “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.”

We know who “the Most High” is, and we know that Jesus said, “No servant can serve two masters” (Luke 16:13). Christ knew what Lucifer wanted, and the master position could never ever be his.

Hopefully, we are not quite as proud as Lucifer is. But as adults, we are still tempted to think of ourselves too highly. After all, haven’t we at least achieved some things on our own? Interestingly, no! James 1:17 states, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights” and Ecclesiastes 3:13 concludes with a similar thought, “It is the gift of God.”

And what do we really know that we have not been taught by others? Not much.

There is a perspective that Jesus shared with His disciples toward the end of His life on earth. He knew He was leaving for a while to be with God, and He wanted the disciples to understand His “club.” Consider what He taught in two important passages:

Matthew 23:8-12: “But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

In essence, Christ was saying, “You are all brothers.”

Matthew 20:25-28: “But Jesus called them to Himself and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.’”

Here He was basically saying, “Learn to be a servant.”

Along with understanding these two passages, we also know that the office of First President is already taken. Let’s be supremely thankful for the opportunity to become a member of the club and a humble servant!

Read more about this subject in “Jesus Christ’s Leadership Approach.”