008 - Plant Trees Under Whose Shade You Do Not Plan To Sit
In Jay Shetty’s book, Think Like A Monk, he quotes a mentor saying, “Plant trees under whose shade you do not plan to sit.” At first glance, it seems like a woo woo statement, but after further thought - it’s quite biblical in essence. Serving isn’t a job, it’s a choice - the highest choice. Serving like Jesus means serving without agenda. In other words, serve without any expectation or plan to receive. Just serve because you’re the hands and feet of Jesus.
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Our modern culture is all about strategizing today to build a successful future tomorrow. And you know what? There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that! In fact, it’s wise. The problem arises when we are willing to take down anyone in our way and do anything it takes (no matter how wrong) to make that future a reality. We basically put ourselves before and above everyone else, and the world celebrates us for it.
Jesus takes a very different approach to success and life.
The greatest among you will be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
Matthew 23:11-12
See the difference? Or how about this one a few chapters earlier in the same book.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it.
Matthew 16:24-25
Let’s take a quick look at the language of Jesus and see if it sounds countercultural to the world’s way of thinking today.
Serve Others
This one’s not so culturally taboo, but it does throw our strategic leadership pyramids for a loop. For instance, if you walk into any business and someone is sweeping the floor with a name tag on their shirt, another is selling products over the phone with a name plate on their desk, and another is going over a financial projection analysis in a corner office with a name engraved plaque at the entrance, who of those would you say is the most important person in that business? Obviously the one in the corner office is valued highest to the company. It’s not that the others aren’t important, they just aren’t most important. How do you know? Because the one in the corner office has the highest salary, and salaries are how businesses express the value of a person. That’s how our culture operates.
The way of Jesus is the exact opposite. In order to be the greatest, you have to become the least. Be the servant in the room, not the master. Doesn’t make much sense, right? But that’s the point. Everything else is vanity and selfish desire, but choosing to serve shows a character well beyond the facade of power. The way of Jesus is about the heart of a person, not the action alone. Just because your job is sweeping the floors doesn’t mean your’e serving. You can be in the corner office and truly serving in the way of Jesus. Serving isn’t a job; it’s a choice, a way of life. It’s the way of Jesus.
2. Humble Yourself
Humility is a character trait that is attractive in any culture, and rightfully so. It’s just not a fun thing to do sometimes. The human nature inside of us wants to be right more than it wants to be humble. Humility is having the power to be wrong even when you’re right for the sake of others. Being humble doesn’t mean you act like you’re unintelligent, but it does mean acting more interested than interesting. The apostle Paul wrote:
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.
Philippians 2:3-4
Did you catch that? “Consider others as more important than yourselves.” That’s humility in a nutshell. In other words, if serving is beneath you, then leading is beyond you. And he goes on to basically say that others’ needs should be considered more important than yours. That’s a shocking way to live, but it’s where true joy and freedom are found. Oh, and the verses that follow pretty much explain the rest of it:
Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death — even to death on a cross. For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow — in heaven and on earth and under the earth — and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:5-11
“For this reason God highly exalted him…” For what reason? That Jesus humbled himself and was obedient, even to the point of death - a criminal’s death. That’s how important humility is to Jesus, so it should be important to us as His followers. The second part of Paul’s writing about the humility of Jesus sums up the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 23, “whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” Jesus didn’t just preach humility, He lived it. Now it’s your turn.
3. Deny Yourself
That doesn’t sound popular - or fun. But Jesus says that if anyone wants to follow Him, they need to deny themselves. We are so used to indulging in anything and everything that makes us happy or makes us feel good. And we do it with absolutely no regard for others, and we do it without any sense of moderation. Do what feels good and is true to you in the moment - that’s more like what we’re used to hearing. But the way of Jesus - the way He’s asking you to follow - is the exact opposite. Are you up for it?
4. Die To Yourself
Now this one is way out of bounds. This is the most countercultural statement Jesus makes in these passages. Culturally, it’s admirable to serve others and amiable to humble yourself, though somewhat deprecating to deny yourself. But it’s morally and ethically unthinkable to die to yourself. That’s considered self-harm and psychological suicide at best. But the way of Jesus is to do just that - die to yourself. What Jesus means is that we no longer chase our own dreams, our own desires, our own interests, or our own needs. Instead, we chase “the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33), and “all these things will be added” to our lives. The apostle Paul also wrote about this concept and said:
I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20
This is the key to true freedom. If we live for ourselves, we don’t find what we’re looking for. If we die to ourselves and live to follow the way of Jesus, we find everything we were looking for all along. That’s what Jesus means in Matthew 16 when He said, “whoever loses his life because of me will find it.”
The way of Jesus is no joke, huh? So it turns out that following Jesus means your life is basically about serving everyone else around you, expecting nothing in return. And the interesting thing is that when we give our lives to serving others, we’re the ones who get the blessing. That’s God’s beautiful design. It’s countercultural, but it’s how the kingdom of God operates. What do you do now? Go plant trees under whose shade you do not plan to sit!
