Kingdom Culture of Surrender
“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3-4
Watch the news, and see stories of war, politics, and economic conflicts. I see the struggle for power over land, agendas, and resources. We can also look around us and see men and women contesting to have their way in relationships, families, work places, communities, sports, and even in some churches or ministries. We see tension in the behaviors, mentalities, and emotions of people who want to have their way. Control is a culture of the world system in which we live.
Control is the M.O., or method of operation of this fallen world system. It began early on, when Satan tempted the first man and woman to become like God, so they would not have to be under His authority. Ever since sin entered the earth, the desire to control, to compete, to be best, to be first, to be better and stronger, has been the ruling factor. It’s a rat race, everyone looking out for themselves. People climbing over others to get higher up the ladder of success.
However, in the kingdom of God, has a different method of operation. It’s a culture of surrender, first to God, and then to others. God created us to find life in Him, the author and source of life itself. Sin separated us from God, sin being a turning away from God, away from life. We were self-reliant, cut off from God. God sent His Son to purchase us out of sin and death, redeeming us back to God. To receive this path back to God, we have to surrender to Christ as our Lord. It’s a relationship of dependency to the creator and sustainer of life, but we have to humble ourselves, position ourselves, as the one in need of Him.
Not only do we yield to Jesus as our King, but we also have a culture of preferring one another, surrendering to one another. We don’t have to be first at everything; we get to be part of the collective. We don’t have to be better than anyone; we just need to be in our spot. Now preferring one another doesn’t mean we become a doormat for others to step on or that we shouldn’t speak up when we have a differing viewpoint, but we are to know when to lower ourselves and lift others up. In Philippians 2, Paul instructed the believers to be like Christ, to surrender to God and to each other. It’s kingdom culture.
Application: Look for ways to prefer others, such as, let someone go before you when waiting in line, or letting the other person have their way of doing something when it is different from the way you would do it. The culture of submitting to one another can open up God to have His way.