So You Want to be Great…Huh?

Scripture: Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”  Mark 9:35 NIV

Observation: Jesus instructs his apostles about greatness.

Application: So you want to be great…huh?  You want wealth, stature, prestige, adoration…you want greatness?  Okay, then you need to start being driven, results oriented, you need to be ruthless. Don’t give an inch, you have to grind your competition into dust.  You have to care only for yourself and your condition. You have to never share, you have to take and keep, and you have to never, never, never be concerned with the affairs of others…right?  Well, not exactly.  Jesus laid out the plan a bit differently.  He said when they came to Capernaum, ” ‘…What were you arguing about on the way?’  But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ ”  Mark 9:33b-35 NIV We should consider all others before ourselves.  We shouldn’t concern ourselves with earthly definitions of success we should only be concerned with how God views success. When we accomplish that then we will have reached our goal of being great by honoring God through serving others and when he is pleased we will have achieved greatness.  Of course, if that is our attitude then we won’t be concerned with being seen as great.  Our greatness will be in the humility of knowing that greatness belongs to God alone.

Prayer: Father, I don’t want to be considered great by man, I want to be considered great by you. I want one day for you to look at me and say to me “well done.”  Help me to be humble and want greatness for you.  Help me to serve others and to honor you as I serve. Amen

Doug

The following is a wonderful sermon about humility by the senior pastor of Millersville Bible Church in Millersville, Pennsylvania.  We have also linked to his blog, “A Time to Think,” where you can find many of the pastor’s sermons.

The Greatness of Humility by Pastor Steven Cornell