Introduction
Tonight we explore another important piece of God’s
“backward” wisdom—greatness. What is greatness?
What does it mean to be great?
Synonyms include
glory, honor, recognition, etc. To be great is to be recognized and
honored for accomplishing something truly significant (HALL OF FAME;
NOBEL PRIZE).
We will use
Mk. 10:35-45 as our base text for exploring this subject. Read
10:35-37. James and John want to be great—they ask Jesus to
grant them the key positions of honor in his kingdom. Jesus’
response introduces us to several pieces of God’s “backward”
wisdom.
Read 10:43,44.
Many think Jesus is rebuking James and John for wanting to be great:
“Shame on you! Your punishment for wanting to be first is that
you will be last in my kingdom. Because you want to be great, you
will be consigned to slavery in my kingdom.”
Actually, Jesus is
assuming and affirming their desire to be great. His critique is
with the way they are pursuing it—something very important that
we’ll get to soon. But the Bible is clear that aspiring to
greatness (as long as it’s the proper kind) is not only
permissible, but important! Jesus gave them this idea in
Matt. 19:28—and this prospect is a key part of eternal
reward for all of us (e.g., “CROWN”).
True, desire for
greatness is easily corrupted. But it may be better to get
sanctified from aspiring to unworthy greatness to true greatness than
to have no aspiration for greatness at all.
I think that one
of the symptoms of the decline of our culture is that aspiration to
greatness is on the wane—and frequently mocked. Instead, there
is a cynical debunking of such aspirations. This is also
true of the Christian community. I find that even among young people
(the group which most readily rises to aspirations of greatness)
there is an increasing reluctance to be great in God’s kingdom.
Christians commonly rationalize/spiritualize their laziness or lack
of spiritual ambition as humility! But nothing is more ennobling
than deep aspiration to true greatness.
Having said this, there is a real danger of
aspiring to the wrong kind of greatness. If we get this wrong, the
entire course of our lives will be wrong. So what is true greatness?
Authentic vs. Counterfeit Greatness
Authentic
greatness is receiving honor from God for advancing his reputation
among people God is the only valid King in the universe, and his kingdom is the
only one that will last forever. Therefore, God honors whose who
honor him and advance his kingdom (1 Sam. 2:30). See
Jesus’ prayer in Jn. 17:4,5. He could ask the Father to
glorify him because he had glorified the Father and accomplished the
work he gave Jesus to do.
The world-system
corrupts authentic greatness into a counterfeit greatness—glorifying
yourself and seeking praise from other people. John calls this the “boastful pride of life”
(1 Jn. 2:16)—and we see examples of this all around
us (CELEBRITY CULTURE: “known for their well-knownness;”
POLITICIANS; TYRANTS; TYCOONS; etc.).
“In essence,
any ambition (for greatness) which centers around and terminates upon
oneself is unworthy, while an ambition (for greatness) which has the
glory of God as its center is not only legitimate but positively
praiseworthy.”
The aspiration to become great for God begins
only after you meet God personally by receiving Christ. Before I
met Christ, I was addicted to worldly greatness and extremely cynical
about other Christians claiming that they lived to glorify God. It
was only after I received Christ and experienced the amazing love
that God had for that he gradually won my heart. He can do the same
for you . . .
Authentic greatness requires voluntary suffering for
Christ.
Once you receive God’s gift of salvation and
decide to live your life for true greatness (as James and John had
done), it is imperative that you understand how to pursue it
properly. They had the right goal, but they were pursuing it in the
wrong way. This is what Jesus corrects in Mark 10:38-45 . . .
James and John
assume that Jesus is going to Jerusalem to defeat his enemies and set
up his kingdom immediately. So they are jockeying for positions of
imminent privilege (read 10:35-37).
Read 10:38. “Cup”
and “baptism” refer to intense suffering. Jesus had to
drink the cup of identification with human sin and God’s wrath
(Matt. 26:39). He had to undergo an immersion into the agony of
the Cross (Lk. 12:50). Only after he endured the agony of the
Cross—and only because he was willing to do this—would he
receive the Crown of greatness (Phil. 2:6-11). And his question
implies that they must be prepared to walk the same path if they want
to share his greatness.
Read 10:39. They
glibly affirm their willingness—and Jesus says, “Good—because
that’s what’s coming your way.” And sure enough,
they did drink Jesus’ cup and they did undergo his baptism.
James was beheaded by Herod (Acts 12:2). John was exiled by
Domitian (Rev. 1:9) and later dragged behind a chariot through
the streets of Ephesus.
And so it will be
with you if you and me if we aspire to true greatness. If you want
the seat of honor, you have to drink the cup. Entry into God’s
kingdom is free—but greatness in God’s kingdom comes with
a price. Authentic greatness requires voluntary suffering for
Christ. It is inseparably tied to suffering because the
suffering we endure to advance Christ’s kingdom demonstrates
the genuineness of our love and commitment to him.
Why do we give
Medals of Honor only to those who go beyond the call of duty
to risk (or give) their lives for their country? Because their
willingness to voluntarily do this demonstrates the genuineness of
their love of their country and their commitment to the values our
country holds dear. In the same way, true greatness in Christ’s
kingdom is inseparably related to the suffering we endure to advance
it (see 2 Cor. 5:17; Jas. 1:12).
So, pursuing true
greatness will lead you into many opportunities to suffer. You don’t
have to seek them out (not that any of us are tempted to do
this!)—they will come to you as you simply follow Christ and
seek to advance his reputation. And they will be greater than you
thought. There is the suffering of unpopularity with friends and
family members, the suffering of a busy schedule with many
interruptions, the suffering of relational disruption in the line of
duty, and the suffering of many forms of
spiritual attack.
But it is well
worth it! God will bear you up in the midst of them with his
encouragement and power. He will use these sufferings to deepen and
purify your commitment to him. And he will more than make up for
every one of them when you enter his kingdom.
Authentic greatness requires serving others in love.
There is another requirement for true greatness.
Some are willing to endure great suffering if the reward is great
enough—but are still self-seeking and unloving toward other
people (1 Cor. 13:3b). But authentic greatness also
requires serving others in love.
Read 10:42.
Nothing has changed here. People who are great in a worldly sense
usually view their position as exempting them from serving people.
In fact, they frequently use their authority to use and exploit those
under their charge. This is true not
only in politics and business—it is also tragically true in the
church (MEDIEVAL PAPAL ABUSE; PASTORS NETWORKING FOR BEST SALARIES &
PERKS AT CONFERENCES).
Read 10:43,44.
Greatness in God’s kingdom is measured by a totally different
standard. It’s not how many people serve you—but how
many people you serve. It’s not how much you’re able to
get others to do for you—it’s how much you’re
willing to do for others. It’s not the extent of sacrifice you
extract from others to enrich your life—it’s how much
you’re willing to sacrifice to enrich others’ lives.
It’s not how many people you can get to dance to your tune
because they’re afraid of what you’ll do if they
don’t—it’s how many people give themselves away in
love to others because you gave yourself away in love to them.
This is no pious
platitude that Jesus cynically mouthed but refused to follow. He
called us to follow this kind of greatness, and he lived it out as an
example (read 10:45). He was the Son of Man—the Messiah, God’s
anointed King. If anyone had the right to lord it over others, it
was him. But he never used his authority to exploit others or exempt
himself from service. Because he loved lost people, he used all of
his resources to give and never to take—even to the point of
laying down his life as a payment for our sins. And he won the
hearts of others to live this same life of loving service because he
expended himself for them.
Is it worth it?
Jesus says it will
be more than worth it in the next life (Matt. 25:21,23).
But this is not
only the path to future greatness—it is also the path to
present fulfillment. Read Acts 20:35. This is yet another
piece of God’s “backward” wisdom: The more
self-centered and self-absorbed we are, the more miserable we’ll
be—but the more other-centered we are, the more we give
ourselves away in love to others, the more fulfilled we’ll be.
Footnotes
Copyright 2003 Gary DeLashmutt