A few years ago, someone asked me a very interesting question. It went something like this:
“Do you believe human beings are innately good or bad?”
At first, it caught me off guard because although the question itself was simple, I knew the response was going to be far from it — and the reasoning used to get there would be even more complex.
I mean, I was being asked to judge humanity according to how I define the words “good” and “bad”. How often do we ever consider what those words mean to us? Our definition of good and bad encompasses our motivations, our culture, and especially our own conscious.
Upon on reflection I realized that the defining characteristic of the human race is not our implicit motivations, our cultural understandings of “good” and “bad,” or even our moral compasses.
One of the most defining characteristics of humanity is selfishness.
I don’t believe human beings are innately good or bad; I believe we have various natures within us —different proclivities— and the nature we nurture most will prevail.
But overall, I believe humans are innately selfish.
It begins at birth with a cry we learn has the power to shift everyone’s focus to us. We quickly become the most important concern, and this attention we receive becomes a source of validation. It doesn’t take long before we learn that "I" is the most important person, and our cries echo this newfound revelation.
By the time we're two our behaviors shift drastically, but the intentions remain the same. We act out, throw tantrums, whine and kick; the center of everything is “me, me, me!” and if anyone refuses to comply, he’s in for a world of trouble.
As as we grow through the years, we learn to manage our behavior. However, most of the things we do are still bred out of our own desires, our own interests, our own needs.
The messages we hear in pop culture reinforce this notion of living by ourselves, for ourselves.
We’re encouraged to mind our own business, stay in our own lane, sip our own tea...
...but when did we reach the point when we stopped caring about if the person next to us likes milk or sugar in theirs?
When was the last time you went out of your way to make somebody else’s day easier? Better? Brighter?
There are various things we can each do on a personal level to effect change.
But let’s not stop there.
What if if we could change the world simply by choosing to think of ourselves less, and serve others more?
Some of the greatest leaders that have graced this earth strategically inconvenienced themselves to meet the needs of other people - to rise to the demands of their generation.
Winston Churchill in his service to Great Britain during WWII and the fight against Nazi Germany.
Mohandas Gandhi in his courageous and peaceful protest against the British empire during India’s struggle for independence.
Rosa Parks in her willingness to sit and symbolically stand for something she believed in amid a sociopolitical climate that did not recognize her humanity.
And greatest of them all: Jesus Christ.
Let's take a moment to read the passage below:
Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet
1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
2 And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, 4 rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself.
5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. 6 Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him,
“Lord, are You washing my feet?”
7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know later.”
12 So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.
14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.
Jesus Christ, along with many other influential leaders, followed a servant leadership model that enabled them to add value to the lives of others.
Servant leadership is "a philosophy in which the main goal of the leader is to serve."
When Christ washed the feet of His disciples, He girded Himself with a towel, He knelt down, and He humbled Himself.
He got down low to meet the disciples at their level.
He strategically inconvenienced Himself to meet their needs.
In doing so, He added tremendous value to the lives of the disciples by demonstrating essential principles: selflessness, servitude, and most importantly, humility.
The antidote to selfishness is humility. When you are able to get down low and meet someone at their level, you put aside your ego for a moment to see the world from someone else's perspective.
In contrast to our selfish human nature, humility is deeply rooted in the nature of God, the maker of all things — King of the universe.
So when we partake in the act of being humble, we express one of the most admirable traits of God himself.
As C.S. Lewis said:
"Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less."
And by thinking of ourselves less, like Christ, we, too, can change the world.
Thanks for reading!
Reflect:
The word "I" is one of the most used words in the English language. Can you count how many times you use the word today?
Think of one way you can make someone else's day brighter. Do it, then write down how it made you feel!
Does anyone come to mind when you think of an influential leader? What is it about this person that you admire?
Crystal ❤️