Wanting to Be Great

Introduction

What is beneath you? You know. What thing or work is below your dignity level? When I was a kid I thought collecting garbage would be an interesting job. The dirty part didn’t bother me. I thought it would be interesting to find “treasures” among what people considered trash. I thought that people threw away some of the neatest stuff. With the economy the way it is, I know some who would gladly take a job that was well below their education just to stay afloat. By the way, while I do not collect garbage for a living I have a great deal of appreciation for those who do.

I watch the ones who provide care for those who are unable to care for themselves. To care for every person’s physical needs—from combing a person’s hair, to changing their clothes, to caring for their toileting needs—such folks are often underpaid but for the vast majority they do their work with compassion trying to ensure the dignity of the person being cared for remains intact. Admiration doesn’t begin to cover my thoughts for these folks. Such may be done for a friend but for a total stranger speaks of something else.

I suppose there are those who think in their mind “I didn’t get all this education in order to wipe down tables.” I once had a student tell me that she wanted to do counseling not social work. Such a statement not only denigrated the work of social workers but failed to appreciate the nature of counseling. Well educated or not there may be something that seems to be a bit below your dignity to do.

For many there are visions of grandeur, even a small amount. We may think in terms of being in charge; revered for our abilities; held up among our peers; appreciated for our wisdom and insight. And with these visions is often a heart that sets out to achieve. Nothing wrong with using one’s gifts; nothing wrong with thinking; nothing wrong with ambition—unless such is selfishly driven. Five texts speak of selfish ambition as something to be set aside as it stands in clear distinction to what God wants for the lives of his people. Paul says selfish ambition is an obvious work of the flesh in Galatians 5:20; in Philippians 2:3, selfish ambition is to be set aside and instead humility is to occupy the mind of the one who follows Jesus. James says in 3:16 that selfish ambition leads to all kinds of evil and disorder. Ambition selfishly driven goes against the will of God.

Remember that Jesus came to earth not for himself but for us. He came in humility. His ambition was found in setting us free. For that we can only say thank you with our words and with our lives. One people hear; the other is seen every day. When our words and our lives match then our thanks is real. Let us express thanks today.

Who’s the Greatest?

From the time Peter makes his confession that Jesus is the Messiah in Matthew 16, Jesus begins preparing his disciples for what is going to inevitably happen—he is going to die and be resurrected. Messiah was understood differently by the people and the disciples than by Jesus. Messiah was seen in political and military overtones. Even the confession is acknowledged as true in the Roman stronghold of Caesarea Philippi. Such a confession made and approved on the doorstep of Roman power and authority would have heightened the idea that Jesus is going to be a military and political leader.

But Jesus is going in another direction. His statements about death are met with disbelief, confusion, and even a direct rebuke from Peter. The disciples believe one thing about Jesus; Jesus knows something quite different is going to take place. In light of how quickly things are going to take place, Jesus prepares his disciples for the plans of God. In chapter 16, Peter is given the “keys” to the kingdom. In chapter 17, Peter, James, and John are taken on a special “hike” with Jesus to the top of a mountain and allowed to experience Jesus’ transfiguration in preparation for his death. There on that mountain they see Jesus speaking with Moses and Elijah. On the way down from the event, these three are told to keep the event a secret.

Do you think they kept it a secret? The text does not tell us if they told but when we come to chapter 18 an interesting thing takes place. In my mind’s eye, I can see the other 9 asking Peter, James and John what happened while they were with Jesus. Maybe they didn’t tell which would only increase curiosity. Or maybe Peter said something like “Jesus made us promise not to tell” and human nature takes over. The bickering starts. Jesus rebukes the disciples for not healing a demon possessed boy. The other three perhaps felt a bit smug in that while they enjoyed some significant event with Jesus the other 9 were failing to carry out the will of God with faith and power.

All of this is speculation but it helps us to see that when we come to chapter 18, the disciples are feuding. They want to know who is the greatest. Peter, James, and John certainly had to be in the running. But Jesus turns things very quickly. He uses a child as the object of his lesson. Be like this child. Be humble like a child. Humility and greatness go together. Jesus says that the focus of their question is wrong. The question is about who is on top; who should get the recognition. And Jesus points to a child. And he tells us what he is looking for. Humility.

Humility means to voluntarily choose to be less so that another may be more. Humility does not mean humiliation in which someone says or does things to make us look and feel bad. Humility is choosing to be less. Humility is knowing that you are something but choosing to be less than you are. This attitude is not easily chosen nor mastered.

How?

Choosing humility is never easy. It is easier to find ourselves talking about greatness than humility. Humility begins when we recognize that real greatness is found when God can be seen in us. When we are concerned about recognition, about applause, about what others think, then we are more likely to focus on greatness in human terms than greatness as God sees it. The child has no ability to be great except to call attention to himself. We know that part of a child’s development comes from saying to parents, “Watch me!” or “Watch what I can do!” Parents watch and then the child is waiting to be praised for doing what may be a simple thing. While we may smile at a child’s way of being the focus of attention, such loses its charm when an adult does that.

Instead of “watch me,” the adult says “Why don’t they notice?” or “I give and give and get nothing in return.” The humble person trusts that what others see is Father not the servant.

To develop humility means that we act without looking for recognition and without getting our feelings hurt when no recognition comes.

Humility also praises others for the good that they do so that Father is seen more clearly. It is one thing to allow others to praise Father because of you and quite another to seek praise because you want recognition.

Second, humility develops when we recognize that we must change. Notice in verse 3 that Jesus tells the disciples that they must change if they want to enter the kingdom of heaven. These who had walked with him through every event for the last 2.5 years were being told they were not spiritually where they needed to be. A refusal to change; to repent; to quit seeing ourselves as somehow spiritually superior will result in us missing out on the kingdom. The person who thinks in his or her heart that everything is okay needs to develop humility. There is a difference between being confident of one’s salvation and thinking that confident of one’s goodness. The person who says “I’m so glad I’m not dealing with that” or “I don’t see how a person gets into that predicament” needs to develop humility. There can only be one God.

M.R. DeHaan wrote: “Pray everyday that God would help you develop humility but don’t ever thank him for your humility.” So let’s pray for humility.

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