Going up?

In religious news, Timothy Dolan has been "elevated" to the office of "cardinal"...

VATICAN CITY – New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan has been elevated to cardinal in a ceremony at the Vatican.

Dolan was one of 22 prelates formally welcomed into the elite group in the Roman Catholic Church in a ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica on Saturday.

Cardinals are the pope's key advisers and are members of the group that will eventually elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI. The former Milwaukee archbishop is also president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Are those who are called to serve being "elevated"? As we mature in Christ are we moving on up or moving on down?

But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28)

The only way that Jesus was elevated during His ministry was being elevated naked and bruised on a cross. It seems to me that the more we grow in Christ, the less concerned we become with acclaim, with titles, with honors. Fancy robes and a cardinals hat are hardly symbols of someone who is a servant.

This is certainly not restricted to Roman Catholicism. Protestants in their own way do exactly the same thing, without quite as much pomp and ceremony. In many ways Protestantism is a poor imitation of the errors of Rome.

When will we learn?