Choose the Lowest Seat
The Power of Humility in pursuit of John 17 Unity
The following is an excerpt from my new book “Jesus Gets What He Prays For”, set to release on February 14, 2025.
“I wonder if we can get seats at the table right next to him?”
It was evening, and my friend and I were busy turning a church worship space into a banquet room. As young men in our twenties, zealous for the Lord, we were excited at the possibility of rubbing shoulders with one of the famous speakers who was sitting at the head table. We were discussing how to best position ourselves to be able to interact with him.
My eyes were drawn to the other side of the room. “What if we took Jesus literally? Why don’t we take the lowest seat we can find in the entire room?” As I shared these words, both my friend and I felt the presence of God.
That night, we picked out the farthest seats we could find from the main speaker. We were among the last to go through the food line. However, as the meal progressed and we interacted with our tablemates, we were surprised to learn they were close relatives of the guest of honor. After he had finished eating, the main speaker quickly headed over to our table, bypassing all the others, and pulled up a chair next to us.
My friend was unable to speak—I could see he was having an encounter with the Holy Spirit. I could hardly keep my laughter bottled up. Jesus’s counsel was not just true in some abstract, spiritual sense. It was utterly practical. Taking the best seat would not have worked. But taking the lowest seat works every time (Luke 14:8-11).
Greatness in the Kingdom of God
“Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’”
Matthew 20:25-28 NIV
In Matthew 20:25-28, Jesus contrasts the greatness of the “rulers of the Gentiles” who “lord it over” those beneath them. Their great ones “exercise authority over them.” In contrast, among Jesus’s followers, “whoever would be great among you must be a servant and whoever would be first must be a slave.” Jesus Himself provides the blueprint for a new definition of greatness: “just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus’s teaching on true greatness comes in the middle of a dispute among His disciples about who would be the greatest.
Notably, He doesn’t tell them to stop desiring to be great, to be first, or to be the best. Everyone who has children knows that they all want to be the greatest ballplayer and the strongest hero. Telling your children, “Stop wanting to be great,” would deny the deepest desires of their heart. The desire to pursue greatness is hardwired into us. It’s part of the image of God.
Instead of changing their goal, Jesus shows them that their image of greatness is weak and foolish.
They are after a cheap, imitation greatness—a knock-off of the genuine article. They’re chasing the same thing ignorant gentiles are chasing, people who don’t know the true God, people who are like foolish children fighting over a toy.
Real greatness is modeled on God’s greatness. He is the greatest of all—so true greatness must be modeled on His inner life. And Jesus has come to break open God’s enormous heart and reveal the greatness of God once and for all.
In Heaven, where there is no lack, it is greater to give than to receive. The more you give, the greater you are. Father God is the greatest, the one who gives all to all.
From eternity past, the Father gives Himself completely to the Son. He gives his fullness to the Son. The greatness of the Father is also the Father’s humility. Similarly, the Son fully gives Himself to the Father. He lays down His life in obedience and imitation of the Father.
The Father and the Son then give themselves to the world. This is true, kingly greatness, the greatness of the Sun that constantly shines on the righteous and the wicked, giving gifts freely to all. The greatness of God is also the humility of God.
Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28-30 ESV)
How could it be that the God who created all things, the great and majestic one, whose presence is shrouded in unapproachable burning, is also gentle and lowly to the core? It is because His greatness is expressed most fully in His complete and utter generosity. The greatest is the one who gives all and serves all.
Much has been made about the need for “servant-leadership” based on this saying of Jesus. We could define servant-leadership as leading in a way that primarily benefits those being led rather than the person at the top. It includes having the attitude of a servant as opposed to being a “gentile” leader looking for money, fame, and status and using others as a means to our own goals. This is certainly true: we need leaders like this. If we are called into leadership, we must model our actions on Jesus’s words.
However, this passage is not primarily about leadership. It applies equally to the janitor as to the chairman of the board. He is not evaluating us based on our position in a leadership hierarchy, He is evaluating us on how we live as a servant of all, whether we are throwing out the trash or presenting to the board.
The pathway to true greatness is to be a servant and a slave to others—to exchange our lives for their lives. This is what it means to be king—to become the servant of all. And the beauty of it is we can do this no matter what our role is. God enjoys a janitor who is a servant to all more than a grasping CEO. And he enjoys a CEO who is a servant to all more than a resentful janitor.
This is true because this is the way God is. And Jesus acted out the inner life of God for us in real time. He showed us what it means to truly be a king.
God with a Towel
John 17 unity begins with John 13 humility (John 13:1-17).
Jesus, rising from His seat at the head of the table, removes his glorious outer garment and replaces it with a towel, wrapping it around his waist. He pours water into a basin and washes His disciples’ feet. The one through whom all things were created washes the feet of His creatures. He washes the feet of His weak friends, men who in a few hours will abandon and deny Him. He even washes Judas, His betrayer.
After, he removes the towel, puts on his outer garments, and returns to his place at the head of the table.
He asks a question: “Do you know what I have done for you?”
He has given them an example. He is their Lord and Master. He is much greater than them, and yet He served them in the humblest way imaginable. The conclusion is that they, who are much lower than Jesus, ought to serve one another in the same way.
He ends by promising a blessing for all who would follow His example, “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” (John 13:17 NIV)
The generation that will see John 17:23 fulfilled will walk in the blessing of John 13:17.
Embody Humility
“If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”
John 13:17 NIV
One clear takeaway from John 13 and Matthew 20 is that humility is not only an attitude of our hearts. It is something we must act out and embody. The blessing of John 13:17 does not come to those who merely know they should serve others in lowest humility. It comes from doing it.
We will be in situations where we must choose where to sit, both literally and figuratively. We can choose to take the lowest seat. We can also choose to wash the feet of those Christ died for—in fact, we have opportunities to do this daily.
Early on in my ministry I heard the Spirit say to me, “Die every chance you get.” I believe the Lord was clearly instructing me on how to be great. I would have regular opportunities to die. By saying yes to those opportunities, I would make progress in the Kingdom. Serving Jesus often feels like one death after another.
Good. That is a sign we are choosing the way of wisdom.
Becoming a Kingdom Entrepreneur
As we begin to act out what Jesus has told us, learning to become a servant to all, Jesus’s way of doing things will stop being weird and begin to make intuitive sense. We will begin to see all kinds of incredible investment opportunities, ways that we can increase our wealth, our greatness, our “status” and honor in the Kingdom.
Because the world does not have eyes to see what creates true wealth, wealth that lasts forever, Kingdom investments can often be had at extremely low cost.
As He instructs us on how to be Kingdom entrepreneurs, Jesus teaches us a new way to throw a party.
Using Kingdom eyes, it’s obvious that throwing a party for your rich friends is not a good investment. They already have food, and if you throw one for them, they’ll likely throw a party for you. You’ll be rewarded when they repay you. Nothing is given to them, and thus nothing is gained. That stock has already peaked—don’t buy it.
In contrast, if you throw a party for those who are poor and hungry, now you’re making money in the Kingdom. They can’t pay you back, so God will reward you and make a deposit in your heavenly bank account. Now, you’re learning to invest. You’re learning how to make money in the Kingdom.
As you put humility into action, strangely, no one will be jealous of you for doing it—everyone will just be thankful. When we act out the inner life of God on earth, it creates surprising love reactions from those around us. You are obtaining true riches, but doing so creates no resentment.
It’s possible to go too far with this “crass” type of reasoning. However, we also need to make sure we go as far as Jesus goes. He is the one who told us we had a heavenly bank account and that we should be more concerned about what treasures we had stored in that account than in our J.P Morgan Chase investment account (Jesus’s concept of “treasure in heaven”).
When you see something important falling through the cracks and no one is taking responsibility, that is a “buy low” opportunity. God may be opening a door for fruitful ministry and investment. At the end of the day, the greatest investment is always going to be in people. People will live forever. Your actions in this life to bless and care for others are a heavenly investment that will continue accruing value for all of eternity.
Caring for orphans, widows, and the poor is always a good place to start. James calls this “true religion” (James 1:27). However, opportunities to serve in the grace of God are boundless. Look for neglected areas with a large growth potential. In my life, I’ve continually found “buy low” opportunities in the areas of prayer and unity. There are usually no salaries for those who work between organizations, uniting believers, or those who are stirring up prayer. And yet, that work is critical to what God is doing in the earth and the return on investment is potentially massive. May God open our eyes to see the opportunities for eternal wealth all around us. May we all grow incredibly great and rich in God’s eternal Kingdom.
Dead Ends: False Humility
In contrast to the joy and glory of real humility, false humility is hideous and repulsive.
If real humility is a steak dinner, false humility is a rotting remnant of the same meal a week later in the compost heap on a hot summer’s day. In American politics, false humility is an epidemic. Many have voted for a man who was unapologetically arrogant precisely because it was preferable to false humility.
I think in the final analysis, arrogance is most likely preferable to false humility. At least with arrogance you are getting the truth. False humility is lipstick on a pig.
False humility will come with a lot of religious sounding language, self-deprecation, and putting yourself down. People who are genuinely humble know who they are, know their value to God, their position, and their assignment. They serve like kings and queens of the most high God. They look like Jesus. Self-possessed, wise and strong, yet with a gentle, lowly heart.
False humility is an ugly imitation. At all costs, avoid it.
Dead Ends: No Leadership
Another dead end is the idea that the very existence of leadership at all is what is driving pride. If we could do away with leadership, we would all be humble.
This idea is far from biblical. While there is certainly an equality that we all share before God, we all have different roles and functions in the Body of Christ and this includes leadership roles. Even within the Godhead, the Father is the leader of the Son and the Spirit, and yet there is perfect, self-giving humility.
Removing leadership functions in the family, the church, or any organization will foster chaos, not humility, and it does nothing to eliminate pride and envy from our hearts. Instead, we need humility applied to each role, relationship, and function.
We cannot get away from the problem of human pride with a perfectly flat organizational structure. It’s chaos and it doesn’t work—don’t try it (I’m speaking here largely out of my own person experience of trying to do this, but I have also seen many others try and fail. While some leadership structures are better for certain applications, we will always need leadership).
Dead Ends: Weakness instead of Meekness
A strong and arrogant person, a great man of the gentiles, might mistake a meek man for a weak man. This is understandable since the two are pursuing greatness along two different lines. One is seeking earthly wealth, power, influence. The other is seeking heavenly wealth, authority, and influence. One is minding the things of earth, the other is thinking about God’s things.
As we are learning meekness, given its contrast to worldly strength, we may be tempted to just “do the opposite” of what the world does. If the world pursues money, I will be poor. If the world craves influence, I will become as uninfluential as possible. If the world craves strength, I will become weak.
This is another dead end. God’s way of greatness is not simply the opposite of the world’s way. It’s doing things heaven’s way. God wants us to prioritize heavenly wealth, spiritual strength, and heavenly influence depending on the grace of God, following His voice, living by faith. He does not want us to stop pursuing glory. He wants us to pursue the glory that comes from God, not what comes from men.
Heavenly humility says in Romans 12:3 ESV, “…by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”
Our pathway forward in humility is thinking of ourselves rightly according to the grace and faith God has given us. This does not mean being weak and having no backbone.
We must be careful not to be overly deferential to others and allow the enemy room to come in with false teaching and false ideas. While deferring and honoring one another is an important aspect of humility, there will be regular moments where humility looks like standing up for truth in the face of opposition, or using your leadership authority to protect others from predators, false teachers, and deceivers.
The same Jesus who was gentle and lowly of heart was also the one who stood against the lies of the Pharisees, pronounced woes, and cleansed the temple with a whip.
As in all things, our Lord bears the likeness of the Father. We can’t just react against poor leadership models we have seen. We must walk as He walked, think as He thought, reason as He reasoned, and live as He lived.
The Coming Glory of Humility
John 17 unity is only possible through John 13:17 humility.
The Great Commission in Matthew 28:20 is only possible through the true greatness of Matthew 20:28.
The generation that sees John 17 fulfilled will model the greatness of the Kingdom expressed in humility and service to one another. We could even say the fullness of the blessing promised in John 13:17 is the fullness of unity prayed for in John 17. The generation that fulfills the Great Commission will have to walk in true greatness.
As more and more people, and especially those called to lead the church, learn to walk as Jesus taught us, it will lead to a new normal. Why would we fight one another for status, money, or fame when our glory is found in giving those things up for each other?
As the way of Jesus begins to go viral, and repentance touches leadership in deep places, a genuine, Christ-like humility will begin to be the new normal for His people. Everyone will be more eager to serve than to be served. Everyone will be honoring others above themselves. This virtuous cycle, like the inner life of the Father and Son, will begin to release grace upon grace upon grace. I cannot wait to be part of this community of Kingdom greatness, and I’m giving everything I have now with this as my goal.
The amazing thing about Kingdom culture is it creates no jealousy.
When my brother honors me above himself, I know he is greater in the Kingdom than me. But I’m not jealous because I can see he loves me, and his greatness is blessing my life. His greatness is for me—it’s part of me, and I want him to be great! We come alive in a community of meekness in submission to the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is meek and humble at heart. He learned it from His Father. And now, we’re learning it from our Teacher, Holy Spirit. And if we keep studying with our divine Tutor, we’re going to wake up one day in a community of humility where we are “perfectly one.”