Take the lower place
Jesus at the wedding feast
Watching guests scramble for the places of honor at a feast, Jesus offers a piece of social wisdom that is really a spiritual one: when you are invited, do not take the best seat. Take the lowest place, and let the host say, friend, move up higher.
It is better, he says, to be invited up than to be sent down. Grasping for honor risks public humiliation; taking the low place leaves room for honor to be given rather than seized. The principle is older than Jesus — Proverbs said it of kings' courts — but he makes it a way of life.
“When you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place.”
— Jesus — Luke 14:10 (WEB)
Take the lower place and let honor be given, not seized. Grasping for the higher seat risks a fall; humility leaves room to be lifted.
“Don't exalt yourself in the presence of the king... For it is better that it be said to you, Come up here.”
Jesus counsels choosing the low seat rather than grasping the high one. A leader formed here positions himself low and lets honor come as a gift, if it comes. He is freed from the anxious grasping for recognition. The inner work is preferring the lower place to the scramble for the higher.
Take the lower place yourself and resist positioning for recognition. Give honor generously to others rather than claiming it for yourself. Build a culture where people are lifted up rather than left to grab seats. Let recognition be conferred, not seized, starting with your own example.
Leaders subtly position themselves for the higher seat and recognition, calling it knowing their worth. The blind spot is grasping for honor that is far better received as a gift.
Notice one place you are angling for the higher seat or recognition. This week, take the lower place there instead, and leave any moving-up to others.
Our instinct is to claim the place we think we deserve, to make sure we are recognized and seated appropriately. Jesus counsels the opposite — voluntarily take the lower place, and leave the moving-up to someone else.
Where are you positioning yourself for the higher seat — and what would it look like to take the lower place and let honor come, if it comes, as a gift?