A man who chooses the Jesus script is…
A man who equates greatness with elevating others rather than himself.
Think about the last conflict you experienced with someone—your boss, a co-worker, your wife, your brother, a friend, or your father. Throughout the tension, what did your internal dialogue sound like? Was it something like… He never gives me credit. He always takes the credit. She’s always complaining about something I’ve done. He never pulls his weight. He always expects me to bail him out. Nothing I ever do seems good enough for him. In your mental scripting, who always wins the argument? You, right? You’re not alone. We all tend to elevate ourselves as we dominate the face-offs in our minds.
In his Gospel, Luke records this encounter from the life of Jesus:
When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum.There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” So Jesus went with them.
He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.
—Luke 7:1–10
This military commander didn’t view himself as worthy of Jesus stepping foot into his home. But he knew what it meant to be a man under authority and recognized Jesus as a man with authority or power. He believed that Jesus could say the word from wherever he stood, and his servant would be healed.
What thoughts must this centurion have had that preceded the actions he took? Perhaps his internal dialogue sounded something like… I have to do something to help my servant. His health is deteriorating fast, so I must act now. He means so much to me and has served me well for many years. People talk about this man, Jesus, who heals people. He could heal my servant. But who am I that he would heal my servant? And why would he come to my home? Maybe I can ask if he will speak healing over my servant because I believe he has that power.
We may not know the thoughts that led to the centurion’s actions, but we know Jesus was amazed at what he heard. This centurion could have elevated his position to persuade Jesus to heal his servant, but he didn’t. Men who follow the Jesus script do the same. It involves submitting to Jesus’s authority in the battles that begin in our minds. It’s choosing a generous response when we think of others. It’s recognizing that we don’t deserve the grace and mercy extended to us by our Savior, so we choose to extend that same grace and mercy to those around us. It’s elevating others rather than ourselves. That’s the Jesus script.
