5Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,6who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,7but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.8And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
That's a seemingly tall order - to possess the same mind as that of the Lord Himself. But, do recognize that we have a capacity to love as He loved, because of the presence of the indwelling Spirit. So, as we develop a heart of a servant, willing to lay down our lives for the betterment of other people, through the power of Jesus, we can actually demonstrate the love of Christ. So, our attitude can be - how can I serve God today? And, who can I serve today? We have the assurance that Christ is in us and with us as we love Him and love others.
Quick, what NBA player revealed his desire to be known as "The Servant"? The answer, coming up.
Jesus taught in the 10th chapter of Mark about the topic of servanthood, and expressed that He had come to be a servant to other people. He said:
43 ...whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.44And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.45For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many...
When someone receives an award or some sort of recognition, it's heartening for a person to deflect those accolades toward the people that helped him or her. And, for the Christian, it's inspiring to see someone truly thank the Lord for the ability to accomplish.
Such is the case from last week's speech by Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder as he accepted the award for Most Valuable Player of the NBA. Durant is known as an outspoken Christian who devoted much of his speech to the woman whom he called "the real MVP": his mother.
According to ChristianToday.com, in his 26-minute acceptance speech, the Oklahoma City Thunder small forward expressed love for the people most important to him.
"First of all, I would like to thank God for changing my life," Durant began.
"He let me really realize what life is all about. Basketball is just a platform in order for me to inspire people, and I realize that."
Kevin has been rather forthright about his Christian faith. For example, there's the ESPN interview from earlier this season where reporter Doris Burke asked him about 12th straight game in which he had scored 30 points or more, a victory over the Miami Heat. TIME.com quoted the exchange:
“Thank God, that’s all I can say. Jesus Christ,” Durant said.
Burke laughed. “You didn’t have nothing to do with it?”
“No. It’s all Him,” Durant said.Interestingly enough, the article dealt with some of the criticism that Burke received for laughing when the NBA superstar shared his faith statement.
And, the Christian Post reported on an interview with Bill Simmons of ESPN:
Last weekend, Kevin Durant talked with ESPN analyst Bill Simmons and revealed a new nickname he chose for himself. In contrast to "The King," the honorific favored by his rival Lebron James, the OKC superstar chose a name that seems much more fitting of his quiet resolve, and of the Bible he so depends on. He wants to be called "The Servant" because he just likes to "serve everybody," including teammates, ushers and the fans.
In his MVP speech, Kevin described a servant who greatly impacted his life. He described his childhood in a small county outside of Washington D.C., where his mother raised him and an older brother by herself.
"Single parent with two boys by the time you were 21 years old," he said, crying.
"Everybody told us we weren't supposed to be here. We moved from apartment to apartment by ourselves. One of the best memories I had was when we moved into our first apartment. No bed, no furniture, and we just all sat in a room and just hugged each other. We thought we'd made it."
"Single parent with two boys by the time you were 21 years old," he said, crying.
"Everybody told us we weren't supposed to be here. We moved from apartment to apartment by ourselves. One of the best memories I had was when we moved into our first apartment. No bed, no furniture, and we just all sat in a room and just hugged each other. We thought we'd made it."
He went on to say, "You made us believe...Kept us off the street. Put clothes on our backs, food on the table. When you didn't eat, you made sure we ate. You went to sleep hungry. You sacrificed for us. You're the real MVP."
As the NBC TODAY Show website points out, before Kevin Durant was the NBA's MVP, he was a frustrated freshman in high school who lived in a rough neighborhood and wanted to quit basketball.
His mother, Wanda Pratt, would not let him quit. She leaned on him to stick with the sport and follow his dreams, which helped propel him into eventually becoming a star with the Oklahoma City Thunder. She told TODAY, "My advice is to never give up, to always put your children first, to always commit yourself to their dreams, their aspirations and their goals even when it gets hard...When you have those lonely nights when you're crying to yourself, just remember that it's for them, and they will get that, they will receive that. I've realized that's what children really want. They want to know that their parents are 100 percent behind them, and they'll give you everything that you expect."
His mother, Wanda Pratt, would not let him quit. She leaned on him to stick with the sport and follow his dreams, which helped propel him into eventually becoming a star with the Oklahoma City Thunder. She told TODAY, "My advice is to never give up, to always put your children first, to always commit yourself to their dreams, their aspirations and their goals even when it gets hard...When you have those lonely nights when you're crying to yourself, just remember that it's for them, and they will get that, they will receive that. I've realized that's what children really want. They want to know that their parents are 100 percent behind them, and they'll give you everything that you expect."
Servanthood. It's something that Kevin and his mother, Wanda, desire to and have practiced in their lives. And, the thought of what it takes to be a servant can propel us - we can ask ourselves, "who can I serve today?"
Jesus demonstrated for us an attitude of servant-leadership. Even though He was the very Son of God, He laid down His life to minister to the needs of other people, and ultimately submitted to a cruel death on a cross so that we might come to know Him, that we might be saved from the penalty of sin. What love! As we recognize that He laid down His life for us and we possess His nature in our hearts, then we have the capacity to humble ourselves before Him and before others, demonstrating His love and placing our needs beneath those of the people we're called to serve.
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