Go for Greatness Jesus’s Way

David W Palmer

(Matthew 23:11 NKJV) “But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.”

In shaping his apprentice apostles, Jesus doesn’t tell them not to have desire for greatness; he doesn’t say: “Deny your need for significance; don’t expect your life to have any impact on others, and don’t anticipate any reward or honour.” No. Instead our Lord imparts to them the right way to eternally satisfy your God-given need for security and significance.

Jesus knows that we have an inbuilt desire for greatness; but only he knows how to achieve it effectively and in a way that truly and eternally satisfies. The world has only feeble counterfeit paths to significance; they drain people’s drive for true greatness with trivial but all-encompassing and strenuous pursuits. The world’s alternatives are sadly only transitory and fleeting—following a hollow promise for prominence.

In the world’s counterfeit system, people burn up their energies striving to be great at sport, business, entertainment, politics, beauty, romance, academics, etc. But these are mostly empty pursuits that leave no lasting security, or any sense of having finally arrived at permanent significance. They may seem to give permanent status to some people financially and in men’s eyes. But at best, they only last as long as life on this earth. After that, they lead to hell—eternal insignificance and zero security.

The Holy Spirit exhorts us not to be fooled by those who gain security through their significance in fallen man’s eyes. Whether it be the world’s sports stars, rock stars, the rich and famous, or wealthy celebrities, don’t envy them at all; they are mostly hell-bound sinners:

(Proverbs 23:17–18 NLT) Don’t envy sinners, but always continue to fear the LORD. {18} You will be rewarded for this; your hope will not be disappointed.

Throughout his 3? years of ministry on earth as the Son of man, Jesus invested a lot of his teaching into renewing our minds to what he understood to be worthwhile pursuits—ones that would bring true security and lasting significance. As part of the classroom session with his trainees, he contrasted God’s perspective of true values against those perpetrated by the devil’s world system:

In today’s opening passage, the Master said that true greatness in his kingdom comes by serving. Note, the word Jesus used for “servant” means: to run on errands or to wait on tables. True significance in Jesus’s kingdom comes from doing this for “all”:

(Mark 9:35 NKJV) And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”

Jesus set the example in this:

(Matthew 20:27–28 NKJV) “And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Jesus is God’s son—the second member of the godhead trinity. He is the God who created the universe, who owns the world, and who has the right to reign here as the ultimate king. Yet, when he came here in person, he chose to come as a servant. What’s even more astonishing is that the above passage says that he came to “give his life a ransom for many.”

Preceding the above passage, our magnificent and exemplary Lord had this to say:

(Matthew 20:25–28 NKJV) But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. {26} Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.”

Jesus’s apprentices had been allowing their [world-trained] ambition to show; they had been disputing about which of them would be the greatest. Jesus didn’t say that the desire for greatness was wrong, but he did show them the true and lasting way to obtain it. But in doing so, he also highlighted the world’s contrasting value: “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them” (Mat. 20:25 NLT). Note the emphasis on “over” and “under.”

Yesterday, we saw that Jesus said, “All of you are equal as brothers and sisters” (Mat. 23:8 NLT). So in Jesus’s kingdom, there is no “over” and “under.” Being entrusted by the Head of the church with a responsibility to lead, does not license you to be “over” anyone; you don’t have any God-given right to flaunt any “authority over those” the Good Shepherd has entrusted to your safekeeping. Instead, you are simply equipped by his grace to serve them—to run spiritual errands to them from him, and to serve them a prepared and palatable presentation of the spiritual food he “cooks up” for them.

Jesus is clearly the role model for this; he came to serve and “to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mat. 20:28 NKJV). If you ever have the privilege of being called by him to lead in his church, remember to “give your life.” Do it willingly. Don’t allow the situation to arise where either you feel that people are taking your life from you, or that you are forced to hand it over. You may even feel that you are being held to ransom—feeling kidnapped, held, and forced to pay up. Resist this and overcome it; renew your mind to God’s truth: the one who calls and empowers you gave his life as a ransom for others. He now empowers you to do as he did.

If you ever get to the point of resentfully feeling that your life is being taken from you, it’s time to come back to Jesus’s feet. Meditate on the following passage, and others like it, until his life flows through you again. As the word comes alive to you, faith will come, and life will enter your spirit like refreshing water to a thirsty desert.

Always remember that Jesus himself is the role model in this; and his grace is available to help you do what he did:

(Philippians 2:5–9 NLT) You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. {6} Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. {7} Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, {8} he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. {9} Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names.