What defines greatness?
I want to show you a series of pictures and have you think about what makes each person great.
Michael Jordan (Skill)
Bill Gates (Wealth)
Albert Einstein (Intellect)
Jay Leno (Comedy)
Lady Gaga (Music)
Rod Blagovich (Hair)
Barack Obama (Position)
Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook)
Mother Theresa (Servanthood)
Now what about this person? Does everybody know what this is? This is a blank Facebook profile! Whenever you create a Facebook account, this is what everyone knows you by, and then you start entering information, uploading photos, joining groups, and posting status updates.
The genius of Facebook is that it taps into our aspirations for greatness. We want to be known, loved, and adored. And so we post photos of our tattoos, we air our political views, we throw up videos that everyone has seen fifty times, and then we wait to see how many friends we get! Facebook is all about friends. Does anyone know who has the most Facebook friends ever? Lady Gaga. Does anyone know who comes in second? Barack Obama!
But back to you. How do you define greatness? What makes a person "great" in your eyes? What "great" thing do you want everyone to know you for? For your clever status updates? For a beautiful profile picture? For how many friends you have? For your hobbies and interests? For your cute kids or grandkids?
I have a friend on Facebook from India who wrote these words about himself. "I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble." How many of you long to become great in this way? It doesn't exactly make for an exciting Facebook profile, but it can certainly lead to a joy-filled life!
The disciples were comparing themselves to one another.
This morning we're going to let the word of God tweak our understanding of greatness. Like many of us, the twelve disciples had aspirations for greatness. Their ambition was to ride on Jesus' coattails all the way to the top. We especially see this in the gospel of Mark. A few examples will suffice.
In Mark 9:33 Jesus asked his disciples what they had been arguing about during their trip to Capernaum. Mark tells us in Mark 9:34 (NIV) that, "...they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest."
The twelve disciples were doing what we do with each other. They were comparing themselves to one another. Who's the greatest? Who's the prettiest? Who got to see the transfiguration? Who didn't? Who confessed Christ first? Who figured it out last? Was it Peter? Was it James? Was it John? It's hard to aspire to true greatness when we're busy comparing ourselves to others. Comparing does little more than incite arguments and quarrels.
The disciples were competing for greatness.
In Mark 9:38 (NIV) the twelve disciples come across a man who is casting out demons in the name of Jesus. They had just failed to cast out a demon in Jesus' name! They immediately feel threatened by this man and complain, "...he was not one of us." Do you hear the rivalry and jealously in their complaint? "Who is this guy encroaching on our turf? Who is this guy who is stealing the limelight and hogging all the press? Who is this guy who is showing us up? We're the only ones who can be great here."
In this instance, Jesus tells his disciples in Mark 9:39-40 (NIV), " 'Do not stop him,' Jesus said. 'No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us.' " Greatness is not about complaining, nor is it about competing with others. Think about how antagonistic we can be toward those more successful than us. We complain, we criticize, and we try to outdo them. Greatness is not about outshining the Christian competition. It's about serving and giving a cup of cold water in Jesus' name, not about getting the credit. See Mark 9:41. Imagine the great things that could happen if we spent as much time cooperating with others as we did competing, criticizing, complaining, or comparing?
Greatness is not condescending.
Later in Mark 10:13 we find parents bringing children to Jesus to have him touch them and bless them. But the twelve disciples rebuke the parents and limit their access to Jesus. You can practically detect the arrogance and condescension in the disciples' response to the parents. They might as well have said, "We're too important to have our time wasted on the needs of children. We've got kingdom business to tend to. Get these kids out of our way. Jesus isn't to be bothered."
If we're not comparing or competing, we're often condescending. We're choosing who is worthy of our time and we brush off all the rest. If a person advances our interests, we let him into our circle. If a person doesn't serve our ambitions, we don't make eye contact, we don't allow ourselves to be cornered, we get annoyed by his needs, and we hand him off to others.
But no, Jesus rebukes his disciples. He takes the children in his arms and blesses them enthusiastically, saying in Mark 10:14 (NIV), "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." Greatness begins by serving the least and less significant-- those with needs, and not just those with resources and capabilities.
Greatness is personally costly.
In Mark 10:32-34 (NIV) we begin to see that greatness isn't cheap. It doesn't compare. It doesn't compete. It doesn't condescend. And again, it isn't cheap. Greatness comes at great personal cost. It is costly.
"They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. (Jesus confirms their worst fears here!) 'We are going up to Jerusalem,' he said, 'and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.' "
Everyone wants greatness, but few are willing to pay the price. This was the case with the twelve disciples. They had already given up homes and fields, family relationships, and friendships in order to follow Jesus. But now it was their very lives that would be at stake.
Mark 10:35-45 (NIV) says, "Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. 'Teacher,' they said, 'we want you to do for us whatever we ask.' 'What do you want me to do for you?' he asked. They replied, 'Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.' (Talk about an ill-timed question!) 'You don't know what you are asking,' Jesus said. 'Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?' 'We can,' they answered. Jesus said to them, 'You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.' "
"When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, 'You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and 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.' "
Jesus Christ came to earth as a servant.
What does it mean that even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many? In Philippians 2:1-11 (NIV) we discover the meaning of these words.
"If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 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 the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Greatness isn't in comparing, it isn't in competing, it isn't in being condescending, and it certainly isn't in being cheap. Greatness is personally costly. It cost Christ his very life. Ultimately, greatness isn't about the quantity of relationships we have on Facebook. It's about the quality of relationship we have with Jesus Christ. Is his character as servant becoming your character?