Extravagant Honor

The following is an excerpt from my personal devotional journal dated September 25, 2015.

Outdo one another in showing honor. (Romans 12:10b)

            “You’ve really outdone yourself!”

            We say this when we recognize that someone has gone to extreme measures to accomplish something. We say they went “above and beyond,” or “over the top,” or that their efforts were  “off the charts.” What we mean by all these clichés is that the person making the effort went to extravagant measures and exceeded all expectations.

            People these days are extravagant in a lot of things: sports, cars, decorating their house at Christmas, food, parties, weddings… you name it. For many, no effort is too great, no expense too costly in order to “outdo” themselves… and everyone else. Most of the time we waste extravagance on stupid things that are foolish or self-indulgent. Occasionally, you may find someone who is extravagantly generous or compassionate or kind. But normally it’s used to gratify sensual craving or temporary pleasure. Then, here comes this first century Jewish Christian church planter with a radical notion: take that bent towards extravagance and use it to benefit another person. Specifically, Paul says, to “honor” one another. Other translations render this verse “give preference to one another (NASB),” “take delight in honoring (NLT),” and “practice playing second fiddle (MSG).”

The dictionary defines honor as “high respect, as for worth, merit, or rank.” In a letter to the church in Philippi, Paul instructed them, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others as more significant than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3, emphasis mine) This runs counter to our deepest nature. Ordinarily, we jockey for position, clamor for recognition, crave applause, bask in glory, and will normally step on anyone who gets in our way in order to get it and, having gotten it, to hold on to it as long as possible. In America in particular, it is ingrained in us from childhood that we have “certain inalienable rights” that are due us, and woe to anyone who violates them! We sue each other, drag each other into court, publicly shame and defame anyone we think is trampling our precious rights.

The Christ follower has no such illusions. We call Him “Lord” which literally means “master,” as in the owner of a slave. If we call Him Master, then what does that make us? We left our rights behind us with the fishing nets and tax collector’s tables.

To show extravagant honor then demands from me extravagant humility. It takes being a “living sacrifice” to be able to “count others as more significant than myself.” I once heard Andy Stanley teach on that passage in Philippians: “It means that we treat everyone else as the most important person in the room.” Think about it this way: suppose the President of the United States walked into the room. Or your favorite pop star, or athlete, or movie star, whatever. You would probably make a big fuss over him, offering your seat, offering to serve him, making yourself lower so that he or she could be regarded as higher. Honor. Impossible without humility.

I love John the Baptist’s reply to his disciples when they complained that everyone was leaving him to follow Jesus:

“A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before Him.’ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:27-30)

This is remarkable. In a day and age when everyone is trying to build up their ministry and draw huge crowds in multi-million dollar facilities to see major productions that we call “worship,” John the Baptist saw success as losing all his followers to Jesus! The whole point of his ministry was to get people to leave him and follow Christ. John considered his ministry successful only when everyone had left his “church” to join Jesus’.

Look closely at John’s words. Here’s what he basically said:

·      I only have what God has given to me. It’s His grace, not my talents, which even put me in this position. Therefore, I don’t hold anything too tightly. Nothing is mine; it’s all God’s and He can do with it as He pleases.

·      I am not the Christ. It’s not about me. The whole point of my ministry was to get people to follow Jesus. He is the hero of the story, not me.

·      I know my place and I know my role in God’s plans and purposes. For me to try to grasp at power or hold onto people for my own pride would be like the best man at a wedding trying to steal the bride away from the groom. That’s not his place. She doesn’t belong to him.

·      I get joy from Christ being glorified. It means I did a good job. It means my ministry was a success. I will be completely happy when every last one of my disciples has left me to become a fully devoted follower of Christ.

That is extravagant honor. Holding this low view of myself and a high view of God results in showing honor to others:

·      If I regard nothing as mine, and everything as a gift from God, then I can be extravagantly generous to others and share freely from what God has given me to show them honor.

·      If I understand that the point of my life is to get others to follow Jesus rather than me, then I can be humble in an extravagant way so as not to block the view of Christ. “Down in front!”

·      If I know my place and understand my role in God’s plans and purposes, I am free to let go of selfish ambition and insistence on my rights, and extravagantly join God in His work around me.

·      If my joy comes from decreasing so that Christ can increase, then there is nothing that can ever steal such extravagant joy!

Father, this is my prayer: I must decrease, Jesus must increase. Use my life to point others to Christ. May I be forgotten and lost to obscurity to make Christ more known. Forgive me for my pride, my selfish ambitions, my grasping for personal rights, and my insistence on recognition and admiration. Help me in humility to regard others as more significant than myself. Form in me the mind of Christ for the glory of God. In Jesus’ name! Amen!