Maybe What It Takes to Be Great Isn't What We Think It Is

When you hear the words “great” or “greatness,” what comes to mind? Perhaps an individual comes to mind who deserves that label. In the business world we’ve had many great industrialists, great innovators, and great performers in their areas of specialty. If you’re a sports fan, you might immediately envision an outstanding athlete present or past, or even a team you believe ranks among the all-time greats.

There are great orators, great teachers, great preachers, great surgeons and great statemen/women). Great musicians, artists, singers, dancers, actors and comedians. Of course, greatness – like beauty – is largely in the eyes of the beholder. One person’s “great” is someone else’s so-so.

 What about you – would you like to be considered great? Some of us might aspire to one day become a household name in our favorite area of interest or expertise; others might settle for being a great mom or dad, or a great spouse. I’ve even heard parents say about a child, “she’s a great kid!”

 

But what is this “great” stuff really all about? Because greatness has its fickle side – someone who’s regarded as great one day and widely praised, can suddenly “fall from grace” and become a disgrace. We’ve all seen examples of that. Could it be that greatness isn’t actually what we typically think it is?

 

Jesus addressed this in a memorable scene when He was alone with His disciples. At that point, they were still clueless as to who He really was. Some thought Jesus planned to become the king of Israel, usurping the ruling Romans, and they wanted to get in on the action. Specifically, James and John, the sons of Zebedee – whom Jesus had nicknamed the “sons of thunder” – indeed created a great stir when they approached Him with a request.

 

“Let one of us sit at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory,” they asked. Not sure whether Jesus did a double-take, but He responded,“You don’t know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” (Mark 10:37-38). He was alluding to the mock trial and the crucifixion that He knew awaited Him.

 

“We can,” the two brothers replied, delusions of grandeur obscuring Jesus’ real meaning. When the other disciples heard about the audacious request, they became indignant. “Why them and not us?” they must have been thinking. So Jesus decided it was time to give them a dose of perspective. After commenting on Gentile leaders who loved to flaunt their positions and authority, He said:

“Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:43-45).

 

Say what? Be a slave to others? Serve? The disciples weren’t expecting to hear those words. They were expecting social standing, positions of honor. But Jesus wasn’t speaking metaphorically – He was being quite literal.

 

In fact, in another setting, Jesus did the unthinkable – washing His disciples’ feet, a task reserved for the most lowly of menial servants. Dusty conditions on the roadways and paths made for dirty feet, but to wash one another’s feet was a job beneath them, both literally and figuratively. And yet, there He was, with water, basin and towel, washing and then drying the feet of His followers.

 

After some discussion, Jesus explained, “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them” (John 13:13-17).

 

What does that have to do with us? We have paved streets and cement sidewalks; we take baths and showers, but don’t need someone else to wash our feet. True, but there are myriad other acts of service we can perform for one another – and for people we don’t even know. These often require selflessness and humility, which was the point Jesus was making. He was indeed calling His followers – those of 2,000 years ago and each of us today – to greatness, but not from the world’s perspective. 

 

Those disciples served as Jesus’ first missionaries, preaching the Gospel to both Jews and Gentiles, both in their homeland and lands they had never seen. But they also experienced persecution, and for most of them, martyrdom. But they never denied their Lord, because they had witnessed His example and were determined to “follow in His steps” (1 Peter 2:21).

 

In God’s view, all greatness requires is humility and a willingness to set aside personal desires and ambitions. As Jesus said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). Now, do you want to be great?

How Good is Your Serve?

Do you know what sport Jesus played? According to the Bible, He said it was tennis: “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve” (Mark 10:45). And He urged His followers to watch out for His return.

Okay, just kidding. That’s not at all what He meant. I know that. But it does clearly say that, despite being the Son of God – God incarnate – Jesus came to serve us. What does that mean?

Jesus Christ came to serve - but
not on the tennis court!

Christ’s service to us took many forms. He served by teaching, giving timeless principles for living rewarding and successful, "abundant" lives. He directly healed many people of their disabilities and diseases. He provided a model for us to follow in how we conduct our own lives. 

Most important, He made the ultimate sacrifice in the most profound sense, dying on the cross as the once-for-all-eternity atonement for the sins of mankind. “The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God” (Romans 6:10). Or as 1 Peter 3:18 expresses it, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit.”

Jesus the servant. What images does that conjure up in your mind? Better yet, if someone were to call you a servant, how would you react? That’s a very valid consideration, because after reviewing all He did for us, 1 Peter 2:21 admonishes, “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” Just as Jesus did not shy away from being a servant to us, part of our calling as His followers is to be servants for others.

When we hear the word “servant,” we typically think in negative terms. We come up with synonyms like “servitude,” “indentured servant,” or even “slavery.” We consider such a role demeaning, representing a lower station in life, whether it’s the downstairs servant staff many of us saw portrayed on the TV series, “Downton Abbey,” or the dutiful housekeeping staff at a hotel. Most of us dislike being treated as servants, whether at work or in our homes.

And yet, serving – and being a servant – is regarded as a noble office by many. Mother Teresa, who devoted her life to aiding the poor and dying in Calcutta, India, said, “Give of your hands to serve and your hearts to love.” Robert K. Greenleaf, author of the acclaimed book Servant Leadership, offered the view, “Good leaders must first become good servants.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. often challenged his audiences to pursue lives of service, helping others. He observed, “Not everybody can be famous. But everybody can be great, because greatness is determined by service. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato or Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.” 

Without question, Jesus epitomized all of the above and much more. Which places an onus on each of us who professes to be among His followers. When we hear the word “Christlike,” we think in terms like being patient, peaceful and friendly. But humility and willingness to serve others are traits that lie at the heart of Christlikeness. 

The apostle Paul stated it this way: “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: ‘The insults of those who insult you have fallen on Me’” (Romans 15:1-3).

So, whether in the classroom, the office, the neighborhood…or even on the tennis court, who can you serve today?

Beauty of Leading Through Serving

Do you know what sport Jesus played? I can’t confirm it, but I have a strong suspicion He played tennis. Because in Mark 10:45, Jesus declared, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve….” And in John 14:3, He said to watch out for His return.

Okay, that’s an example of taking the Scriptures out of context, even twisting a word or two. But throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry, serving clearly was a high priority for Him – except not in the tennis sense of the word. Repeatedly in the gospel accounts we see Jesus serving others in one way or another – turning water into wine at a wedding feast; giving sight to the blind, enabling the lame to walk, healing the sick and raising people from the dead; casting out demons; intervening when people were in trouble. 

This is not what Jesus meant when He talked
of coming to serve rather than be served.

Jesus even performed the lowly, servant’s task of washing the disciples’ feet just hours before His trial and then crucifixion. So when He made the declaration, also recounted in Matthew 20:28, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many,” Jesus was expounding on a previous statement, “whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave” (Matthew 20:27). It’s said lessons are more easily caught than taught, and through His example, Jesus was demonstrating to His followers what true leadership looks like.

It’s interesting how intriguing the concept of “servant leadership” has become, especially in today’s business and professional world. At a time when so many people have their eye on “I” – or “me” – the notion of a leader selflessly and sacrificially serving others seems novel. It’s certainly not being taught in our esteemed business schools, and on those rare times when examples of servanthood are presented through the national media, they’re treated as anomalies, exceptions rather than rules.

However, from God’s perspective, serving others should be the norm. After all, He did show us how it’s supposed to be done. Jesus declared, after His precedent-shattering foot washing, “I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you” (John 13:15).

It doesn’t take an in-depth study of the Scriptures to see how important servanthood is to God. You might say that for all followers of Jesus, it’s a essential part of their job description. The apostle Paul, who himself endured much hardship and suffering in fulfilling his calling to minister to others, wrote, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant…” (Philippians 2:5-7).

Later, writing about the young man he had mentored, Paul said, “For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a (spiritual) son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel” (Philippians 2:21-22).

This truly is a revolutionary concept in many respects. Few of us awaken in the morning resolving to find someone to serve, much less take the risk of being treated like a servant! But that’s exactly what disciples of Christ are asked and exhorted to do.

No, it’s not easy. But imagine the difference it could make if we each resolved, rather than demanding to be served, to find ways of serving others – even if it cost us in terms of time, our talents, or our material resources. How refreshing it might be for the world around us to observe people with a “you first” rather than “me first” attitude.