A Servant in the Shadows

The Scottish theologian, Principal Cairns, had the habit of saying, “You first; I’ll follow.” Once, when approaching the platform, a great burst of applause greeted him. He stood aside and let the man behind him go first, and began, himself, to applaud. He never dreamed the applause could be for him.

What a display of divine humility. Was he not truly a personification of the text, “…in lowliness of mind, let each esteem the other better than themselves.” How hard it is to push others into the spotlight, while we remain obscure in the shadows. The book of Job puts it this way, “As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow.”