Associate with the lowly
Paul on whom to keep company with
In a quick list of marks of genuine love, Paul slips in one that exposes a leader's pride: do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the lowly. Pride naturally gravitates upward — toward the impressive, the powerful, the people who can help us. Paul tells us to deliberately go the other way.
The rich and the poor, Proverbs reminds us, have this in common: the LORD made them both. A leader who only invests time and attention in the influential has quietly adopted the world's ranking of people — and abandoned the way of Christ, who was a friend of tax collectors and sinners.
“Don't set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble.”
— Paul, to the Romans — Romans 12:16 (WEB)
Don't gravitate only to the impressive and powerful. Associate with the lowly, refusing the pride that ranks people by status.
“The rich and the poor have this in common: the LORD is the maker of them all.”
Paul names associating with the lowly as a mark of real love and a cure for pride. A leader formed here deliberately invests in those who can do nothing for him. He refuses to rank people by usefulness. The inner work is letting humility, not ambition, set whom you draw near.
Spend real relational energy on the lowly, not only the influential. Notice and resist the upward pull toward people who can advance you. Build a culture that honors people regardless of status. Let your company reveal that you value people as God's image-bearers, not as rungs on a ladder.
Leaders gravitate toward the impressive and useful and call it networking, quietly adopting the world's ranking of people. The blind spot is letting ambition decide whom you draw near.
Notice whom you naturally seek out this week. Deliberately invest time in one lowly person who can do nothing for you, refusing the upward pull of pride.
Watch where a leader naturally spends their relational energy, and you will see what they actually value. Pride gravitates toward the impressive and useful; humility makes room for the lowly, who can do nothing for you.
Who gets your time and attention — mostly the influential who can help you, or also the lowly who cannot?