Striving for Greatness
By Stovall Weems
Matthew 20:25-28 (NIV)
Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the 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 your slave—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 is saying, “Want to strive for greatness? Serve!”
What a thought! Maybe we could replace the image of Christianity that seeks our own comfort, convenience, good feelings, and personal blessing with the image of being a blessing to others and serving with kindness and love.
Actually, there is nothing wrong in striving for greatness, if there were, Jesus would have responded differently to their arguing. However, in the kingdom of God, there is only one path to greatness.
We strive for greatness by:
- Serving our spiritual family
- Serving our children
- Serving our community
- Serving in various ministries throughout the church
- Serving God through serving others
In John 13:1-17, Jesus wrapped a towel around His waist. The King of kings and Lord of lords poured water into a dusty basin . . . The Son of God/Savior of the world washed nasty, dirty, gnarly-nailed, twisted-toed fishermen feet! Jesus demonstrated to His disciples what truly set Him apart as a great leader . . . He served.
He served:
- The hungry with multiplied fish and loaves
- The hurting with a healing touch
- The grieving with a compassionate tear
- The outcast with words of encouragement, hope, acceptance & forgiveness
- With power and with grace
- With truth and with mercy
He shows the full extent of His love when He serves . . . and so do we!
We may not put on a servant’s towel and pour water into a basin . . . but we can comfort infants in the nursery as we pray over them and their future; we can seat & serve people, assist in the parking lot, and put on our friendliest smile to greet people who have had a really hard week.
We serve through removing obstacles and distractions to the presence of God so people can come into a service and experience Him! The one – the greatest servant all, Jesus Christ!
Whatever we do, as along as we do it unto the least of these, we do it unto Him; and in the process, we place ourselves on heaven’s path to greatness.
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5 Responses to “Striving for Greatness”
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Thanks for the inspirational archive and the engrafted word of God. I agree servant hood should be part of our lifestyle whether it’s picking up trash at the mall parking lot, or picking up a merchandise or product someone may knock off the shelve in the grocery store and don’t care to pick it up, or clothes off the rack. That’s what Jesus going to say well done my good and faithful servant not well done my good and faithful pastor, evangelists, doctor, psychologists even this is some our vocation it’s vital to the lord but we have to be servant whatever our profession and calling in life. I had a talk with the lord i told him he can tell me that now not to wait until i get there here and there will be great. I thank the lord that he call you to shepherd me. love 4 life.
Thank you for this great message. I got a ‘revie” concerning serving. In Paul’s writings he was always talking about reaching out and serving and especially to the family of God. The love of God IS shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, but God leaves it up to us to cultivate that love and get it to growing and growing. I have noticed that those that are too busy to serve always have very stagnant lives. Thank God that we have a wonderful church that puts a big emphasis on serving and not sitting in a Sunday school class. AMEN!!
Pastor,
I have to agree completely with Q’s comments.
If I had to go back and find the ignition switch for my walk with Christ, it would be very easy. The minute I began to serve, there were revealed to me the things of God, and his purposes for me started to become clear. I remember the message you gave on that Sunday over two years ago, and during that message, God put it on my heart to get out and serve in his church. I wrote on a connection card that I would clean the toilets if thats what was needed. I got a call on that Monday evening from John Tail, and I began parking cars that following week.
That was over two years ago, and now I look at where my joy comes from, not only spiritual joy, but my joy as a man. Service and leadership through service allow me to be used by God, and when you are used by Him, that is when you are truly happy and truly peaceful. God gives us all a great toolbox, and the tools (our experiences) are given to us in order to glorify Him. We can use those tools provided by God, to complete the work assigned by God, for the people who have been put before is by God. Talk about JOY, how awesome is that.
Philippians 4:13 and Romans 8:28 tie together these thoughts for me.
Erika and I have led a couples ministry, I lead bible studies on Saturday morning, and Tuesday evening for men, Monday evening for Daniel House. I lead a group of guys in the parking ministry, and Erika is a lead teacher in the children’s ministry.
I have posted these things before not to show off what I or we do, but to show off what God will do in your life if you remember how Jesus loved us (by sacrifice) and practice that sacrifice both in the church and in our everyday lives. What we have, and who we know, on every level belong to God, and I don’t know about you, but if I have the opportunity, I want to serve what is HIS.
Think about where you were without Him, and in all the beautiful ways He uses you now. God is AWESOME.
Keep chasing Jesus, there is no greater joy available.
Jason
Pastor, that is one of the first things that I noticed when I arrived at Celebration 9 years ago, an emphasis on serving. It is no wonder we have such dynamic serving teams and so many people are being touched by the Love of Christ. My only regret was that I didn’t begin serving sooner, once I did things were never the same. I thank God for the church and those that would trust in God and his command to put others before themselves. Just consider the fruit it continues to produce at Celebration….man it gets me fired up. Thank you to all of our volunteers,who every week lay down their lives to reach others.
Yep. I wrote an article called “It’s Not My Calling and Other Christian Myths” that covered basically the same material. Just because “cleaning up” isn’t your calling doesn’t mean that you should walk by trash in the parking lot and not pick it up.