The challenge of the servanthood of Jesus is one I like to avoid, quite honestly. 😉

When I get into a text like Philippians 2:1-13 I dig into the meditation of serving. This time through I am tracking the thought of “servant” through the Bible (in a very quick manner). What I am finding is one can’t make this journey without running into the concept of “justice” as well. And then things go downhill from there.

Just what IS “justice?” Depending on where you land on the theological spectrum, the answers are wide. Even going through simple word searches in Bible dictionaries I could easily guess the theological bent of each dictionary’s definition.

The concept of justice is WIDE, which is probably why we’re all over the board on this. We get the conservative version of justice that ends up in the old-style Clint Eastwood stories of making sure the bad guys get what is theirs, even if it’s not what society would exactly approve of. Justice is seen in legal terms.

We get the liberal version of justice that focuses on making sure the poor are taken care of and the margins of society aren’t kicked to the curb completely.

And then the theological grenades start flying.

What I can’t get around at this point is the attitude of a servant and the need to see the ones society doesn’t normally see. It is moving away from the self-branding and self-marketing (including photo ops with the poor just so you can slap it on your website to show how compassionate you are) and it is moving into the action of seeing.

Several years ago I got into a confrontation with city leaders because they were blocking an organization moving into the city that took care of poor predominantly African American families. They had re-zoned a property that the organization was going to get so the “business” of that organization couldn’t take place in that location. It was “bad press” as they say in the political world. I ended up in confrontation with most of the city council members. One particular conversation I had was getting frustrating and I said to the council member, “I need to be the voice for those who can’t speak. They aren’t being heard and I need you to hear me on their behalf.”

The organization still didn’t get the building. They found another place in another part of the metro and moved on.

But I find that when we are truly serving there are times we need to be that voice for the voiceless. We need to see what everyone else is ignoring. I don’t get this right all the time. I don’t think I get it right most of the time.

But, following Christ, I need to get this attitude in me.