The greatest among you will...
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"The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." C. S. Lewis described hell this way: "We must picture hell as a state where everyone is perpetually concerned about his own dignity and advancement, where everyone has a grievance, and where everyone lives the deadly serious passions of envy, self-importance, and resentment" (Screwtape Letters).
Darwood Ash had a very humble job in the lowest basement of the building. He was a mail room clerk. No one was lower than he. One day a bug came scurrying across the floor. Darwood may have had the lowliest job, but he was bigger than the bug. He raised his foot to flatten the bug. But this story is a fable, and the bug speaks. "Spare me," said the bug. "Spare me, and I will grant your fondest wishes." Darwood spared the bug, and for his first wish he said, "I want to be promoted to the second floor." His wish was granted. Zap! He found himself working on the second floor. But wait! Darwood heard footsteps on the ceiling of the floor above him. A higher level meant higher wages. The next day Darwood rose to the third floor. But that didn't end his ambition. He wished for still more promotions. He went to the tenth floor, then to the twentieth, fiftieth, seventieth. Still he was not satisfied. Darwood was sitting by the indoor pool on the ninety-sixth floor, when he discovered a stairway leading up -- to another floor? He scrambled up the stairs and found himself on the roof. At last, he was highest! Suddenly he saw a boy on the edge of the building with his eyes closed. "What are you doing?" he asked the boy. "Praying," was the answer. "To whom?" The boy pointed his finger skyward and replied, "To God." Panic gripped Darwood. Was there a floor above him? He couldn't see it, and he couldn't hear any footsteps shuffling around up there. Just clouds. "Do you mean there's somebody above me? Someone greater than I?" "Yes," said the boy. The bug was summoned. "Make me God. Make me the greatest. Put me in the type of position that only God would hold, if he were on earth," the man commanded. And the very next day, Darwood began work -- in the mail room. Jesus said, "I came not to be served, but to serve -- and the greatest among you is the one who serves."
-- Lentz
Darwood Ash had a very humble job in the lowest basement of the building. He was a mail room clerk. No one was lower than he. One day a bug came scurrying across the floor. Darwood may have had the lowliest job, but he was bigger than the bug. He raised his foot to flatten the bug. But this story is a fable, and the bug speaks. "Spare me," said the bug. "Spare me, and I will grant your fondest wishes." Darwood spared the bug, and for his first wish he said, "I want to be promoted to the second floor." His wish was granted. Zap! He found himself working on the second floor. But wait! Darwood heard footsteps on the ceiling of the floor above him. A higher level meant higher wages. The next day Darwood rose to the third floor. But that didn't end his ambition. He wished for still more promotions. He went to the tenth floor, then to the twentieth, fiftieth, seventieth. Still he was not satisfied. Darwood was sitting by the indoor pool on the ninety-sixth floor, when he discovered a stairway leading up -- to another floor? He scrambled up the stairs and found himself on the roof. At last, he was highest! Suddenly he saw a boy on the edge of the building with his eyes closed. "What are you doing?" he asked the boy. "Praying," was the answer. "To whom?" The boy pointed his finger skyward and replied, "To God." Panic gripped Darwood. Was there a floor above him? He couldn't see it, and he couldn't hear any footsteps shuffling around up there. Just clouds. "Do you mean there's somebody above me? Someone greater than I?" "Yes," said the boy. The bug was summoned. "Make me God. Make me the greatest. Put me in the type of position that only God would hold, if he were on earth," the man commanded. And the very next day, Darwood began work -- in the mail room. Jesus said, "I came not to be served, but to serve -- and the greatest among you is the one who serves."
-- Lentz
