Jesus leaves little doubt that the way he lived is the way he offers to his followers: The disciple is not superior to his teacher nor the slave to his master (Matt. 10:24). With great persistence he points out the downward way: Anyone who wants to be great among you must be your servant, just as the Son of Man came not to be serve but to serve (Matt. 20: 26-28). The downward way is the way of the cross: Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me. Anyone who finds his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it (Matt. 10:39).
The disciple is the one who follows Jesus on his downward path and thus enters with him into new life. The gospel radically subverts the presumptions of our upwardly mobile society. It is a jarring and unsettling challenge.
--Henri Nouwen, The Selfless Way of Christ
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