What was Michelle doing shopping in Target? It was a publicity stunt. The Clintons did stuff like this. You may recall the couple’s “impromptu” dance on the beach as it just so happened that a cameraman was hidden in the bushes to get the shot that made the liberal world go all weak in the knees.
A few years ago, an airline pilot stopped by the offices where I work. I’m the president of the company. He was looking for “the president.” He had gotten one of my books and noted that our offices were on his way home from the airport, so he decided to stop by.
One of the men unloading the truck (the vice president) pointed to the other guy helping. He was point to me.
I’m often mistaken for “the help” because I’ve unloaded trucks, cleaned floors and toilets, rearranged books, vacuumed, licked envelopes, packed books, and taken out the garbage.
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been asked to help people in stores. Some times it’s because I’m tall. It might have been the reason the person asked Michelle Obama to help her get something off a shelf.
In fact, I’m glad people see me as the help. We should all be thought of as the help no matter how big, powerful, and rich we are or might become.
Politicians used to be known as “civil servants.” In biblical terms, someone involved in government is described as a “minister of God” (Rom. 13:4). The Greek word translated “minister” is diakonos (διάκονός) from which we get the ecclesiastical word “deacon.” Deacons “serve” the needs of others.
Jesus is said to be “King of kings, and Lord of lords” (Rev. 17:14; 19:16; 1 Tim. 6:15), and yet the Bible says that Jesus “humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8).
Jesus was such a servant that He washed the feet of His disciples even though He knew “that the Father had given all things into His hands” (John 13:1-17).
Being looked on as a helper or servant is not a bad or denigrating thing. Of course, it can be, but it does not have to be. Someone looking at us as “the help” can go a long way to keep us humble, to remind us that we are not to “lord it over” people even if we might have the right or position to do so. Undercover Boss comes to mind. Many of the bosses that agree to go undercover come away humbled by the attitudes and the work ethic of the people who work for their companies.
“But Jesus called [His disciples] to Himself and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:25-28).