The Heavenly Order - When a General Takes the Lowest Place

The Crimean War would later come to be known as "incompetent international butchery". The men fighting in it knew it to be such already. Many of them didn't even know why the fighting had started but they had neither the time nor the energy to question that now. For most, it was simply a battle to stay alive. 

The British troops were located just outside of Sevastopol, a position that had taken the allied forces almost a year to attain. In that time, they had gained a mere thirty miles of distance. No one knew how much more it would cost - in the way of time and lives - to take the five miles that yet remained.

 Within the British lines the men were competing against each other as well as against the enemy. General Gordon struggled to know how to lead such a group. There was no great purpose in the war - nothing to inspire a man to give his life willingly. Now even basic honour and the sense of camaraderie were being forgotten, for each man cared only to save himself.

The General tried to put such musings out of his mind and concentrate on strategy instead, but it was of little use. The thoughts kept returning. How can we win when we are fighting against ourselves? He frowned and shook his head. What's the point! If we have lost our honour we might as well loose our lives! His thoughts were interrupted as cannon fire destroyed part of the gabion and a cascade of stones and concrete fell into the trench. When the dust cleared a man lay dead on the ground, a large chunk of rock by his head. Three others had minor injuries, and the damaged gabion threatened to drop more rock as soon as another blast shook the embankment. 

The corporal in charge of the area shouted to one of the many privates. "Go repair the cage!" 

The private, a boy still in his teens, fell back at the command. The enemy fire was heavy upon the embankment and the task would likely cost him his life.

 The corporal looked up at the stones that rested above, no longer secured by the thick metal wires that had held them. The crowded trench left men little room to dodge falling debris. "I said get up there!" He repeated.

 The soldier's face had drained of all colour. Biting his lip fiercely he moved toward the nearest ladder. 

The general, unnoticed by either party, watched the boy with interest. He knew the inward struggle the private was facing. 

The boy was trying to make up his mind to die. He was visibly shaking as he took hold of the ladder and put his foot on the first rung. He climbed no further than that. "Please Sir, I can't!" 

His leader's face showed no compassion. "You can and you will!" 

The boy shook his head. "Would you do it, Sir?" 

The corporal looked equally surprised and enraged at the question. He slapped the private across the face. "It's not my job to do it!" Grabbing the youth by the collar he slammed him against the wall of earth. "You can die up there, or you can die down here - you choose!" He lifted the rifle that he held, as he waited for the soldier's response.

General Charles Gordon had seen enough! He silently picked up one of the heavy coils of wire and ascended the ladder himself. Several of the men gasped in astonishment and even the attention of the enraged corporal was drawn upwards. Up to the General who was repairing the gabion himself!

 The enemy fire was continuous. The explosions generated so much heat that the air burned in Gordon's lungs. He paused to pull his shirt over his face. Repairing the cage of wire was a slow and tedious task of weaving. 

The fire of cannons caused the embankment to shake beneath him as he worked and numerous bullets, many of which narrowly missed him, caused chips of rock to fly loose and hit him. It seemed like an eternity before the work was finished and he was able to descend the ladder into the safety of the trench. When he did, he was covered in sweat, blood, and debris. 

He approached the corporal. “Never,” he shouted, “Never tell another man to do that which you are afraid to do yourself!”

The expectations of the corporal should not be strange to us. It was simple selfishness. He was willing to make another man risk his life because he didn't want to do it himself. The man considered his own life to be of higher value than that of the man who ranked beneath him. 

Our selfishness may never be seen in the dramatic nature of the story above, but we also have placed ourselves - our needs, our goals, our desires - above others. Few of us have faced such a battle as the Crimean War, yet many of us have abandoned compassion and chosen to seek our good above the needs of others.

Its a behaviour that I've seen even in little children. Often in the context of a game like tag or hide and seek. The children know that the person who is "it" could be hiding anywhere, just waiting to jump out and surprise them. So they forced the youngest child to go ahead of the rest of them to see if the coast is clear. Rather than being protected and given the advantage, the smallest is used as a buffer to help the older ones get away. As we grow older most of us learn to be more subtle about it than that. But the attitude remains, only in a manner that is easier to excuse or to hide.

  We esteem positions of greatness because the come with power and convenience. High rank allows those who posses it the freedom to leave the unpleasant, difficult jobs to others. This is true regardless of the area - it could be in childhood play or business, military life or social. The lesser ranks are left the unpleasant duty of obeying, serving, and building up the higher ones. 

But what happens when a man like General Gordon demonstrates another way to use position? 

Charles Gordon was not the first of high rank to take the lowest place and serve those beneath him. The King of Kings, the very God of the universe Himself, left His place on high to do the same. 

If anyone was in a position to be served it was God. He who is worthy of all praise. Yet He used His power and position to step down to the lowest place, our place, and do the unpleasant job. This action was in direct opposition to the world's system.  

"Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. 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. Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?”

 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.”

Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!”

Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”

 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!”

Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, “You are not all clean.”

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? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." (John xiii. 3-17)

When our General, knowing His position - that He had come from God and was going to God- deliberately began to serve, the world's system of hierarchy was turned upside down. Peter said to the Lord, "You shall never wash my feet!" because in the order he was reasoning from the servant was the lowest place. My God is to be raised high. Jesus should be served by us, not be serving us! Peter thought. But he needed to learn that the order in heaven is altogether different from the one he knew here on earth. That God's ranking is exactly opposite to the world's.  

God redefined the position of greatness. On this earth those who have earned greatness receive service, acclaim, and ease as their reward but in heaven greatness is the opportunity to be the one who takes the lowest place. Authority is the job of caring for all before oneself. Leadership is demonstrated by doing the worst job and never allowing it to fall on another. 

The highest position has already been claimed by our General and King - Jesus Christ. Yet He has said, "You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet." His action, like General Gordon's, was meant to be an example to His men.

"Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest. And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, “Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great.” (Luke ix. 46 -48)

Instead of clamouring for notice and position we are taught to long for the opportunity to serve God through the service of others. This was the attitude of Christ. Taking the lowest place does not come naturally to us, for our selfishness would persuade us to seek our own gain whenever and wherever we can. We must persistently choose to practice a different system.

The action of washing the disciples feet was a demonstration of humility. This example can be applied to any area. The lowest place may be found in washing someone's feet, in risking one's life to fix a gabion, in volunteering to be the one to peak around the corner in the game of tag, or in any number of other ways. Such are to be considered the position of honour and we should desire to have them for ourselves, instead of passing them off to another. Do not strive for greatness in the world's system, but in God's. For in heaven's order it is those who take the lowest place that will be called up higher.

"So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: “When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honourable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”" (Luke xiv. 7-11)

Whatever the motivator - fear or a desire for gain - do not pawn the harder position off on another, nor leave it for him to find. That is to give away your opportunity for greatness in the eternal order. As General Charles Gordon reprimanded his officer,

“Never, never tell another man to do that which you are afraid to do yourself!”

Instead ask God to give you courage and make you willing to do what needs to be done. Remember that your General did it first. He is our example.

In Christ

quiana