Mark 10
Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant. Mark 10:43
As a child I was frequently asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Like every little boy growing up in the Philadelphia area during the 60's, I wanted to be a great baseball player for the Phillies. My heroes included Johnny Callison, Jim Bunning, Tony Taylor, and Cooke Rojas. But by high school I realized that was not a realistic dream. In college I set my sights on becoming a teacher. By the time I graduated from college, God had called me to be a pastor.
Throughout this whole process the culture was sending out messages to me. "Whatever you become do it in a great way." The American dream has at its centerpiece making a name for yourself, being first, being the best, being somebody, being anything but ordinary.
Somewhere along my journey I realized that Jesus was not calling me to "greatness" but to faithfulness. He wasn't calling me to be the next Billy Graham, but he was calling me to the joy of an devoted life of obscurity. Greatness is not defined by standing out as an all-star. In Jesus' kingdom, greatness is defined by wearing the camouflage of humility.
Does this mean we have to lower our expectations and dreams? No, it means we lower our eyes and see greatness as serving the people right aside of us.
In a recent article, blogger Chad Bird stated it this way, "God's glory, and our joy in that glory, is currently not glorious by worldly standards. It's not found in big accomplishments but seemingly small gifts."
I challenge you today to think small, to think how you can serve your spouse, your children, your church family, and your co-workers in small but magnificent ways.
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