A Church Without Egos

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Scientific Egos

Katalin grew up in a small town west of Budapest, Hungary. Her family lived in a small house with only one room, a reed roof, no running water, no refrigerator, and no TV. She a very bright student and studied hard. She won a national biology competition allowing her to attend a major university. After graduating from college she earned a postdoc position, sold her car on the black market, took the money, sewed it into her daughter’s teddy bear and fled Hungary finally arriving in the US.
She studied at Temple University earning $17,000 to support her family. The scientific community was enthusiastic initially about her research but her progress was slow and eventually other scientists lost interest. The week she was diagnosed with cancer she was given an ultimatum—either move on to a new project or lose her prestigious faculty position.
She humbly opted for the demotion. Katalin thought, “Who cares? In 100 years no one will remember my name.” She continued her work for two more years finally meeting Drew who believed in her and her work. Together they eventually succeeded.
Katalin had to endure a room full of egos. A room in which everyone was trying to impress the others. Who has the most research money? Who has the most patents? Who has the biggest lab with the finest equipment? Who received approval to purchase new computers?
The business and scientific communities are still filled with rooms full of egos. We will never know how many advancements in medicine, physics, chemistry or aviation would have been made if people could have put aside their egos and collaborated. Unfortunately, the Church of Jesus Christ is no different. We have pulpits filled with super egos. Men and women prancing about proclaiming their version of the Gospel. They insist on certain programs, a set style of worship, or method of programming. The laity are not exempt. They bring their own egos to committee meeting and stubbornly resist new ideas and new ministries simple because a new member of the church suggested it. Arguments ensue. Battles rage, feelings are wounded and nothing gets down.
I wonder what we could accomplish as the body of Christ with in a church without egos?
We shall see in this morning’s Gospel lesson that Jesus himself has no use for people with swelled heads.

Coming from Capernaum

Jesus and his disciples are traveling from Mt Hermon through the region of Galilee heading south to the territory of Judea. Peter, James and John are probably enjoying and even gloating over their special selection. Jesus had taken these three with him up Mt Hermon to pray. While the four were on the mountain, Jesus was transfigured into his post-resurrection glory. He was also joined by Moses and Elijah. These two men were pre-eminent in Jewish history. Moses led the people out of Egypt and later received the Law from God. Elijah was considered the greatest prophet.
While the four were coming down the mountain Jesus told them not to tell anyone until after the Son of Man had risen from the grave. Completely baffled by his meaning they kept the matter to themselves but, they undoubtedly felt rather important. Rejoining the other disciples they were introduced to a man whose son was possessed by an evil spirit. The other disciples were unable to preform an exorcism and Jesus himself had to intervene.
Afterwards they left the region to travel to Capernaum. At some point in time along the way, they began arguing about who would be the greatest when Jesus came into his kingdom. Peter, James and John could have one upped they others for special selection to join Jesus in hiking up the mountain. The other disciples probably countered by pointing out the flaws of the three. James and John were known as the Sons of Thunder for good reason. Their loud boisterous argue would intimidate any opponent. Peter often spoke before he thought through his response.
Jesus at first chose to ignore this conversation and instead explained to them the ultimate plan of His Father—betrayal, death and resurrection. They heard the words but he may have been speaking a foreign language. They could not connect the dots. They did not understand the Jesus himself was the Son of Man. They had never heard of someone rising from the dead.
After they arrive in Capernaum Jesus asks them about their conversation on the road. They act like guilty fifth graders whose devious plans had been discovered by their teacher. They were all silent. Jesus knew their conversation so he decides to teach them a lesson about greatness.
He takes a little child and stands him in the middle of the group of disciples. Children were considered a blessing from God, but they did not hold any authority in the Jewish family. Children were not unimportant, but were always subject to their parents. They were to learn the Torah from their parents esp from their father. They were to obey their parents. A disobedient child could receive severe punishment. Children also did not hold a seat of honor at the dinner table.
The role of a child in the family is the model of leadership for the Twelve disciples. They were not the CEOs. They were not military leaders commanding legions. They were not going to wear the crown of a king. They were to take on the attitude and actions of a child.

Humility Defined

This style of greatness requires a great deal of humility. The book of James gives us insight into the actions of a humble person.
He first describes it in the negative. A humble person does not display "bitter envy or selfish ambition.” They do not consider themselves more deserving than others. They do not expect others to yield to their ideas, plans or proposals. Their happiness is not a higher priority over the happiness of another person. A person with selfish ambition demands their own way based upon the mistaken belief in their own importance. This is the person who generates dissension, turmoil and conflict. It they do not get their own way they take their marbles and go home or transfer to another church.
A humble person in contrast knows how to produce harmony. They have wisdom from above. They are willing to yield to others. The humble person says, “The new ministry does not have to be my way, this other idea has some very valid ideas.” “The music does not have to be strictly traditional hymns. We can include a few contemporary songs.” “The refreshments are not handle the way I would do it, but let’s try your idea.” (The issue of refreshments may sound trivial, but I served a church while a student at seminary in which an elder stormed out of fellowship hall never to return because children were reprimanded for allowing the adults to take their cookies first.)
Humility thinks of others before self. One pastor wrote, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less” I grow weary of people who dominate conversation talking about their last vacation and after exhausting that subject outline their plans for their next one. People who think they are the only ones with aches and pains. People who use a great deal of emotion to tell how cruel their parents were for not buying them a Snow White doll at Disney World. Yes, an exaggeration, but you know the type.
Humility says I could lead this meeting better, but I will defer to you. Humility does not grumble over promotions that never came. The bonuses they thought they had earned but never received.
People who display false humility could be easily be abused. However, true humility never submits to physical injury or emotional harm. They will remove themselves and their children from such situations. These people are confident and self assured. They yield to others from strength not weakness. They maintain harmony without compromising their values or core beliefs. They work for the betterment of others and the goals of the group. These are the people who are child-like in their leadership. These are the people that bring joy to others and to their savior.

The Reward of Servanthood

I hope you are still wondering who this Katalin is. Some may have already guess. Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman discovered how to infuse mRNA into the immune system without provoking a severe immune response. This is the approach that both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine use to immunize. For their indomitable persistence and humble desire to serve humanity Katalin and Drew were awarded a $3m breakthrough prize for life sciences and more importantly discovered the foundational approach to create the most important medical treatment in the 21st century.
I wonder what we could accomplish as the body of Christ with only one ego in the room? Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. After all he is the head of the body and we are only members of it.
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