Have you ever desired to be great? Or, have you ever desired greatness in a particular field? Of course, people never desire to be mediocre or lowly in what they do or accomplish—rather, you would want to be a great musician, a great speaker, a great leader, a great athlete, great student, etc depending on who you are and what your strengths are.
The fact is, we all desire greatness in some form or another. Wanting to be great is a natural tendency. But before we go gung-ho to be great, its necessary to first determine what greatness is, and what type of greatness is most important, most influential, and most Biblical. Otherwise, we might just be pursuing some form of greatness that isn’t ultimately ‘great’ from God’s perspective. So, from there, we segue:
In the gospel of Luke, we see a perfect example of how the disciples’ natural desire for greatness is confounded, yet encouraged, by Jesus’ definition of what greatness really is. Check it out:
A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves. (Lk 22:24-27)
Here we see what it means to be great–to be a servant. That is greatness. To be humble. And why do we live in service to others? Because we have been such incredible recipients of service and love from the greatest of all–Jesus. In fact, even though Jesus was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God something to be grasped, but he made himself nothing and became a servant to all, becoming obedient, even to death on a cross for us (Ph 2:6-11).
If we are to model greatness–the greatness of the one whose definition of greatness really matters most ultimately–then we are to follow Jesus’ lead by serving others–and serving those who are lower than us. Indeed, we were incredibly lower and undeserving before Jesus, but he served us as if we were his best of friends and equals. Likewise, we are to serve in the same way, in the same capacity, to the same type of people.
This is why the gospel is so strikingly different and surprising to the world. It is unheard of for a CEO of a great business to go serve the poor undercover. Or, for a famous NFL player to take a crippled and ill young lady to be his date to an exclusively prestigious event—simply because he wants to honor and bless her (Tim Tebow, you’re the man). He could have brought a famous celebrity as a date or a great, close friend; but he decided to honor and serve her instead. Yes, the underprivileged are blessed to know that we want affiliation with them and want to serve them–and the world looking upon can only be shocked.
It is natural for the rich to hang around the rich. It is natural for the famous to huddle together. But it is very unnatural when different people of different backgrounds and social standings come together and treat each other as equals in selfless love. Extremely unnatural. That’s what gets the world’s attention. And that’s what wins the world’s admiration. Indeed, the gospel breaks down all social barriers because it brings all people to the same reality under their need for Christ, and the salvation they find in him.
Jesus says something particularly along these lines: “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” (Mt. 5:46-47)
These actions are what drives the unbelieving world to question why we are the way we are. And the answer goes back to the gospel—we have received much in Christ, and we cannot help but point others back to him by demonstrating to others what He has demonstrated to us. Indeed, this makes all more sense when we evaluate the significance of 1 John 4:19 “we love because He first loved us”.
We love the world, serve the world, encourage the world, befriend the world, and show grace to the world because Jesus has loved, served, encouraged, befriended, and shown grace to us. The world sees this, and says, “wow…THAT is what’s great”. Better than fame, better than wealth, better than luxury–THAT is what’s true, deep, and needed.
When you follow Jesus in these steps of greatness, the world will see the greatness we have found in Christ—and will praise our Father because of it (Mt. 5:16).
