Commentaries:
God does not want anybody in His Kingdom who is only good at following orders. He wants sons and daughters who have taken on His values and character and made them their own so that they will always choose the right way of their own volition. His purpose requires that we be able to choose between life and death, blessing and cursing (Deuteronomy 30:19). If our every word and deed are regimented—whether by God or by a human government—then we do not develop character. Thus, God is working with us to help us make the right choices without having to be controlled externally.
The carnal mind, though, really only understands external control. In Christ's teaching, He uses the Gentiles to exemplify those who do not know God, who govern by "exercising lordship" and "exercising authority." Matthew's account says that they "lord it over" the people.
Then Jesus declares that those who exercise authority in this way are called "benefactors." The basic meaning of the Greek word is "a worker of good." Lording authority over people could be considered "good" only in the sense that it enforces order and discipline rather than chaos. Yet, the real issue is how that order and discipline are brought about. If it is done in the Gentile way, it is achieved through force, coercion, oppressive legislation, threats, and fear. However, if God's way is followed, order and discipline may take longer to accomplish, but they will endure because they come from within the people rather than being imposed on them.
Another way that "benefactor" can be understood is as "one who provides for another." In collectivist political systems, the government is seen as the benefactor of the people because it "guarantees" things like jobs, food, healthcare, retirement, security, and so on, in return for allegiance. The Gentiles rule by causing the people to depend on them for everything, and they appear to be generous and benevolent by "giving" things back to the people.
In either application, Christ says, "but not so among you." Recall that His teaching began with the disciples arguing over who was the greatest. They were focused on their position and their status—like those who do not know God—and Jesus had to direct them back to their responsibility. His instruction to those who would have authority in His church was to serve, not to rule.
The service of the church is geared toward helping the members toward "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). He clearly does not mean "serving" by establishing iron-fisted control and ruling the members by fear, nor does He mean "benevolently" doing for them what they can and should do for themselves. Both of those extremes stunt character development, leaving the people unprepared to live eternally. Instead, He means serving by applying those gifts that have been given for the edification of the body (verse 16), and not taking more authority than He has given.
David C. Grabbe
The Nanny Church (Part One)
In his bestselling book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey observes that most people are entrenched in what he calls a "scarcity mentality":
They see life as having only so much, as though there were only one pie out there. And if someone were to get a big piece of the pie, it would mean less for everybody else. The Scarcity Mentality is the zero-sum paradigm of life.
People with a Scarcity Mentality have a very difficult time sharing recognition and credit, power or profit—even with those who help in the production. They also have a very hard time being genuinely happy for the successes of other people—even, and sometimes especially, members of their own family or close friends and associates. It's almost as if something is being taken from them when someone else receives special recognition or windfall gain or has remarkable success or achievement.
Although they might verbally express happiness for others' success, inwardly they are eating their hearts out. Their sense of worth comes from being compared, and someone else's success, to some degree, means their failure. Only so many people can be "A" students; only one person can be "number one." . . .
Often, people with a Scarcity Mentality harbor secret hopes that others might suffer misfortune—not terrible misfortune, but acceptable misfortune that would keep them "in their place." They're always comparing, always competing. They give their energies to possessing things or other people in order to increase their sense of worth.
They want other people to be the way they want them to be. They often want to clone them, and they surround themselves with "yes" people—people who won't challenge them, people who are weaker than they. It's difficult for people with a Scarcity Mentality to be members of a complementary team. They look on differences as signs of insubordination and disloyalty.
We in the church, despite coming out of the world and beginning to experience God's abundance, are not immune to this frame of mind. While still spiritually immature, the twelve disciples showed such a mentality when they focused on their positions in God's Kingdom. Several times, their conversations centered on "Who would be greatest?" Matthew records that they came to Christ to ask, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" (Matthew 18:1). On a separate occasion, Jesus approaches them and asks, "What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?" They refuse to answer because they do not want to admit that they had been debating their future statuses (Mark 9:33-34; see Luke 9:46-47). In both instances, Jesus points them to the example of humility in small children.
At another time, when they are again disputing "which of them should be considered the greatest," Jesus advises them not to emulate Gentile leaders who exercised lordship, but instead to follow His example in serving those over whom He had authority (Luke 22:24-27). It is natural to assume that the question of "who is [or would be] greatest" came up only once during their time with Him, but a careful reading shows significant differences that indicate that this came up several times. Apparently, the disciples were susceptible to this scarcity mentality—that there is a limited amount of success, achievement, and blessing, and thus we must compete for what exists. This even carried over into their view of God and His Kingdom!
There is no scarcity with God. He is not a man, who only has so much to give. If He gives to one part of the Body, it does not mean the rest of the Body is missing out. His blessing, reward, or recognition of others does not mean that we are somehow losing, nor does His blessing or reward of us indicate that we are somehow winning. If the organs in a human body were to become jealous and competitive toward each other—that is, if they began to behave as if there were scarcity—sickness and confusion would be the result. So it is with the spiritual Body.
Mankind, disbelieving God's ability to provide, easily falls into the trap of believing that there is only so much to go around, and every last bit of money, praise, attention, affection, recognition, or any other form of physical or emotional wealth must be fought over. While on a job or growing up, we may have experienced an environment of scarcity, but if we perpetuate it in our relationship with God and His children, it demonstrates that we lack trust in God.
Those with a scarcity mentality do not grasp God's "bigness"—His sovereignty, providence, and ability to supply every spiritual, physical, and emotional need. Just because one person or group is doing something well does not mean that everyone else is somehow "losing." We have no need to compete for God's favor; indeed, competition—comparing ourselves among ourselves and striving to be better than another—will separate us from Him and keep us from His favor!
As sovereign Creator and the source of everything, God is manifestly able and willing to supply every need of His children. If we believe this, it will be evident in our lives because they will be free from competition, from futile comparisons, and from a feeling of loss when another part of the Body is blessed. Thus Paul was inspired to write, ". . . if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it" (I Corinthians 12:26).
David C. Grabbe
How Big Is the Pie?
Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Luke 22:26:
Proverbs 26:4-5
Proverbs 28:2
Amos 5:11
Matthew 18:1
John 13:12-16
John 13:15
1 Corinthians 3:1-4