A Biblical Application from Aesop's Fable "The Three Tradesmen"
This fable made me laugh, and it teaches an important lesson.
I’ve seen this play out over and over again.
You probably have as well.
Maybe you’ve heard of Aesop’s Fable “The Three Tradesmen,” and perhaps you haven’t. The fable goes like this:
The citizens of a certain city were debating about the best material to use in the fortifications which were about to be erected for the greater security of the town.
A Carpenter got up and advised the use of wood, which he said was readily procurable and easily worked.
A Stone-mason objected to wood on the ground that it was so inflammable and recommended stones instead.
Then a Tanner got on his legs and said, "In my opinion there's nothing like leather."
The tanner’s suggestion to use leather to fortify the town is so foolish and self-serving it’s laughable.
I imagine the tanner making this suggestion somewhat sarcastically to show that the carpenter and the stone-mason weren’t as concerned with the town's fortification as much as they were their own wallets. Or perhaps, Aesop was trying to demonstrate the foolishness of selfishness.
In Aesop’s fable, it’s easy to see how foolish selfishness can be. It’s not always that easy to identify it in our own lives.
I think of the many times that Scripture records the fighting among the apostles over which one of them would be the greatest in the Lord’s kingdom (Matthew 18:1-4; Mark 9:33-36; Luke 9:46-47).
Jesus showed how absurd their arguing was by teaching that the one who becomes like a little child will be considered great in His kingdom.
We read about the selfishness of the apostles and may think, “Wow, how could they be so blind to their own selfish behavior?”
Are we really any different?
How often have we been upset because our advice in that business meeting at work or school wasn’t followed?
Or what about if the elders didn’t do something the way we wanted it done?
The apostles tended to think too highly of themselves - we aren’t much different from them.
So what should we do when we notice selfishness creeping into our lives?
I try to remember how the actual greatest one in the kingdom of God - Jesus Christ - humbled Himself and served others. After He washed the feet of His apostles, He said something that stuck with them the rest of their lives.
“Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. (John 13:12-17)
Selfishness has no place in the Lord’s kingdom - His church - because the King Himself is entirely unselfish. And since we are not greater than Him, we ought to be like Him.