Article January 11, 1919 Issue

"He that serveth"

LIEUT. CECIL HARCOURT-MORRIS

The human mind, being unable to deny the righteousness of Jesus' teachings, always strives to postpone their application to everyday life for the simple reason that only in this way can it continue to delude mankind and so prolong its so-called existence. One of the arguments it uses is that such rules as he gave may be practical in certain walks of life but are quite impossible in others; whereas the fact is that, as Mrs. Eddy declares in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 202), "God's will must be universally done."

In the twenty-second chapter of Luke, Jesus is quoted as saying: "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve ... I am among you as he that serveth." In these words he laid down a most definite rule to be remembered and obeyed by all, not excepting those called to serve as officers in the armies and navies which are so necessary to-day. Mortal mind, however, ridicules the possibility of applying such a rule to men in military service, arguing that it must entail lack of discipline and lead to anarchy and inefficiency.

Now the best proof that such a rule does not lead to any anarchistic régime is to be found in the accounts of Jesus' dealings with his disciples; for although he was among them "as he that serveth," we find him giving the most definite orders, demanding obedience, rebuking faults, and fulfilling the rôle of an ideal leader. The fact is that mortal mind, or the carnal mind, as Paul calls it, being ignorant of the power of Love and of the irresistible attraction of Spirit, can conceive of no successful organization other than that of a number of human beings ruled by a few privileged personalities, responsible only to their superiors and able to command obedience by reason of their power to punish those under them. In this order of things the men are the servants doing the will of their overlords and prospering according to the good or evil disposition of those wielding such power. Happily, this material concept is yielding to the more spiritual idea of men obedient to those set in authority, not out of fear, but from love of Principle, as a sacrifice to Love, with leaders responsible and obedient to Principle, whose motives are not those of domination but of service.

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