“He will not wrangle or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. He will not break a bruised reed or quench a smouldering wick.” Matthew 12,19-20
John spoke up: “Master”, he said, “we saw a man driving out devils in your name, and we told him to stop, because he doesn’t belong to our group”. “Do not try to stop him”, Jesus said to him: “For whoever is not against you is for you”. Luke 9,49-50
An argument came up among the disciples as to who was the greatest. Jesus knew what they were speaking about. So he took a child, put him by his side, and said to them: “The person who in my name welcomes this child, welcomes me. For whoever is least all is the greatest.”
It is remarkable to note how often Jesus allowed himself to be led by suggestions made by others.
In spite of Jesus’ universal authority, he did not impose himself on others. Although he was omnipotent, he did not crush the weak. Mathew characterised Jesus’ approach as follows: “He does not argue or shout, nor does he make loud speeches in the streets. He does not break off a bent reed, nor will he put out a flickering lamp”. (Mt 12,19-20) Although Mathew is quoting from Isaiah 42,1-4, the description fits Jesus’ approach to precision.
When Paul was imploring the Philippians “not to do anything from selfish ambition”; “never to think you are better than others” and “to look out for the other person’s interests, not for your own”, he spontaneously thought of Jesus’ own example in the matter.
“The attitude you should have is the one that Christ Jesus had”. Paul then describes how Jesus emptied himself. (Phil 2,3-8)
It is difficult to be a leader, and thereby prominent, and yet to put oneself into the second place. The only protection against one’s natural ambition and one’s natural urge to grab the monopoly of initiative, is to remember the true nature of Christian leadership.
The person who matters for Christ is the ordinary member of his community, “the brother or sister for whom Christ died”. (1 Cor 8,11) The small child, the least member of the community, is in fact the most important, for he or she represents Christ to us. ( Lk 9,48-50) Unselfish leadership will be open to initiative and to contributions from all members of the community. The good that is begun and done by others will be encouraged and and fostered. “Whoever is not against you is for you” .
Sociologists tell us that we can find out the nature of an organization from its decision-making process. Key questions are: where does the decision originate? What was the mainspring or motive of the decision?
We could also put it this way: Who is allowed to take initiatives? Are all ideas supposed to come from the leader? Is it normal for the members to make suggestions that lead to decisions for the community? Is initiative from the members encouraged or frowned upon? Is the leader suspicious of any initiative originating from other than him/herself?
A man who did not belong to the inner group of Jesus’ disciples was casting out devils in Jesus’ name. John wanted to forbid him to do so. Jesus does not approve of this attitude. The other person’s initiative should be appreciated and not curbed, “Whoever is not against you is for you”. (Lk 9,50.)
John was wrong in thinking that the disciples had the monopoly of doing miracles in Jesus’ name just because they had been entrusted with authority in a special way. Initiatives begun by others should not be looked upon as the competition of rivals. Jesus says explicitly: “Do not forbid him”. It is the initiative of the member, not the ambition of the leader, that is protected by Jesus.
The two incidents of the dispute among the apostles and the encounter with the man driving out devils in Jesus’ name, are linked both by Luke and Mark (Mt 9,33-40). Most probably they were already connected in the oral traditions that preceded the present gospel text. It was likely that the link between the two incidents was not accidental. The early church will have seen in both a demonstration of the same principle, namely, that in the Christian community it is not the honour of the leader that counts, but the spiritual welfare of the individual and the community.
This was indeed a new principle. For the contemporaries of Jesus it was natural to consider the ruler and not the ruled as the person that mattered. In any kingdom the subjects were supposed to work and live for the happiness, power and fame of their king.
It was taken for granted that the king could “reap a harvest where he did not plant and gather crops where he did not scatter seed”. (Mt 25,24-26) It was not much different in the homes of the rich. Everyone in the house, whether members of the family, servants or slaves, were thought to be at the disposal of the master. Jesus referred to this when teaching our total submission to God. “Suppose one of you has a servant who is ploughing or looking after the sheep. When he comes in from the field do you say to him, “Hurry along and eat your meal?” Of course not! Instead, you say to him, “Get my supper ready, then put on your apron, wait on me while I am eating and drinking; after that you may eat and drink”.(Lk 17,7-8)
It was implicitly assumed that the community existed for the leader: for the king, for the priest, for the master of the house or the officer who was in charge. This is what Jesus does not want in his church. The focus should not fall on the leader, but on the person who needs his leadership.
When the apostles debated on who was the greatest, Jesus placed a small child in their midst. This small child, he said, represented himself. Whatever we do for that child, we do for him. That is why it is the weakest member of the community, like this child, that counts most. This is the meaning of “He who is the least among you all is the greatest”. (Lk 9,48)