Fifty Two Weeks / Philippians 2

Like Christ

Two thousand years ago a literal revolution occurred in Western thought and culture. This wasn’t some mere change of government or puny fall of an empire. This was a massive upheaval in how millions of people looked at life and its values.

Prior to Christ the culture of both the East and West was dominated by an Honor/Shame mentality. Regardless of any other elements in one’s life the overriding factor that made a life of value was public honor. The greatest disaster that could befall a person was public shame and humiliation.

Christ totally stood this conventional wisdom on its head.

The Crucified God

There was no greater public shame that one could endure than to be crucified on the cross. Some have likened it to being sent to the electric chair today, but that comparison isn’t even remotely close. I won’t go into the details but suffice it to say that being stripped naked and publicly displayed to die a slow torturous death where anyone and everyone was allowed and encouraged to ridicule you and add to your misery at their pleasure is the electric chair raised to the Nth power.

Along comes Christ into this Honor/Shame society at the point on earth where Eastern and Western cultures intersect. He not only teaches and promotes humility by publicly and privately placing others first; He also dies the most humiliating death ever devised by mankind with the result that His followers consider Him to be first place above all others. Almost as stunning is the fact that for almost two thousand years cultures covering vast portions of earth’s population buy into it.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
      Who, being in very nature God,
      did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
      but made himself nothing,
      taking the very nature of a servant,
      being made in human likeness.
      And being found in appearance as a man,
      he humbled himself
      and became obedient to death—
      even death on a cross!
      Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
      and gave him the name that is above every name,
      that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
      in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
      and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
      to the glory of God the Father.

From our perspective we can’t really start to appreciate how absolutely revolutionary these words were and are.

Still Changed?

Have these words lost their power? Has the example of Christ faded in the hearts and minds of even His followers?

The old “me first” Honor/Shame mentality never did completely die out. Today those of us in the West are seeing a startling marginalization of the impact of Christ’s humility. While virtually all will still give lip service to this value of life very few will order their lives to conform with it. I’m not talking about extreme cases of giving all to help others. Those still happen from time to time. I’m talking about the small everyday choices we make. I’m talking about what our actions say makes a life of value.

God was serious when He took the One who was willing to let the most go to take the station of the least and exalted Him to the highest place above all others. He is still serious about this. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 5:5-6, “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”

Jesus was also serious when He said, “The first shall be last and the last shall be first.”