Do We Aspire Towards Greatness?

Somehow the body of Christ seems to think that if we are humble we should never desire or even confess the desire to be great. Why is this? Is it because we think or have been taught that to desire such a bold thing is sinful or carnal? 

So often in the body of Christ some teacher or pastor says something that the audience thinks is brilliant because it’s provocative or new without knowing whether what was said was biblically sound or not. Sometimes it’s a simple thing and other times it a deep idea that fascinates people’s interest.  All too often a solid ministry has gone off the rails biblically because some pastor or teacher has an unhealthy appetite for being on the cutting edge of some “New Concept” to wow their audience. They keep trying to have provocative “New” ideas to gain a greater audience or notoriety rather than helping people become better followers of Jesus. Now mind you, some of what the body of Christ has believed for hundreds of years could be wrong and therefore challenging such ideas with the scriptures may sound new and provocative but in truth it is returning to the intent God had all along. Scripture is always our bottom line as believers in terms of how we evaluate new and old teachings in the body of Christ, not our feeling or desire.

I think one of the problems for the greater body of Christ is a lack of understanding about words and terms used in biblical training.  The word “humility” is a good example. Most people know what God’s word says about God blessing the humble and yet few can clearly explain what humility looks like.

James 4:10                                                                                                                                                                                             Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

James 4:6                                                                                                                                                                                                        He ( God) gives us more and more strength to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say,

“God sets himself against the proud, but he shows favor to the humble.”

Ask the average believer and you will get a fuzzy definition of humility which normally reflects a “Passive Attitude” in someone who doesn’t challenge or offend. Does that sound like Jesus, who all of us would say was humble, and yet he overturned the money changers table and drove these sellers out of the temple without their money? So, if we can’t seem to define humility very well, is it possible we have a “Negative Attitude” towards greatness because we think it doesn’t reflect humility?

Maybe we have a wrong definition of the idea of greatness because of the world’s contamination of the word.  Greatness in the world is depicted by someone who is greedy, who boasts a lot, who has more than someone else or who accomplished more than others. Rarely does the world define greatness in a positive way and yet somehow people seem to want to be great.

The answer should be found in the scriptures if we want to see what God says about greatness. Remember now, don’t add your bias when you read God’s words, which is easier to do than you think. God spoke to Solomon about greatness in 2 Chronicles 1 when Solomon built the temple. God tells Solomon because his motives were good that God would make him great!

2 Chronicles 1:11-12                                                                                                                                                                                   God said to Solomon, “Because your greatest desire is to help your people, and you did not ask for personal wealth and honor or the death of your enemies or even a long life, but rather you asked for wisdom and knowledge to properly govern my people, I will certainly give you the wisdom and knowledge you requested. And I will also give you riches, wealth, and honor such as no other king has ever had before you or will ever have again!”

Solomon had a great desire to do something that was grand and he wanted to do it to help the people of Israel. God doesn’t say to Solomon that this desire for greatness was wrong but right. God commended his desire.

In the New Testament, Jesus’ disciples came to Jesus asking who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  This is what Jesus said about desiring to be great.

Matthew 18:1-4

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” [2] He ( Jesus ) called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus doesn’t say the desire for greatness is wrong but it must carry with it a right perspective by having the attitude of a child which is teachable and believing. A child desires to improve and develop. A child wants to become better than they are and Jesus commended this. Now, just to be clear, Jesus is not condoning or encouraging “Childishness” in us but being willing to change and receive from God.

It is interesting that at the end of Jesus’ ministry and training his closest followers still were trying to figure out who was the greatest amongst themselves. They didn’t get the hang of it with regards to motives yet.  Jesus overhears them talking about it and shows how we can become the greatest in the kingdom. Mind you, he doesn’t rebuke them for wanting to be the greatest but for having the wrong motives in such a goal.

Mark 9:33-34                                                                                                                                                                                              They came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house, He began to question them, “What were you discussing on the way?” But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest.

Sometimes we feel guilty about some desire we might have, like desiring to be the greatest, when in truth the desire is not wrong but rather the reason.

Luke 22:25-26                                                                                                                                                                                              And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ “But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant.

The motivation and desire to become better than we are is what God designed us for all of us. The problem comes when we want to become better or the greatest in order to lord it over others rather than becoming a servant to help people.  Jesus encouraged his disciples to adjust their motives for greatness means by desiring to be great by serving. The world wants greatness to dominate while a Christian desires it to help others become their best.

We need to desire to be great in our own right because we are competing against our previous efforts and accomplishments. Biblical greatness helps others succeed. Desiring greatness as Jesus described it will motivate you to always desire healthy growth in your daily walk and enable you to continually improve whatever gifting God has given you.

Questions:

1) Have you had a negative attitude towards the idea of greatness? Confess that attitude and ask the Holy Spirit to help you to have a healthy attitude towards greatness.

2) Do you desire to have a biblical attitude towards greatness? Do character studies of believers in the past and glean from their greatness.

Loving God’s word that transforms,

Pastor Dale