Mark 9:33-37
GREATNESS
Photography can be deceptive.
Have you ever see a picture where an item is hidden within a photo? It may be a
lizard within the rocks. You can easily miss it without close examination. You
have to search out the item. This is what Jesus is doing in this Scripture. The
real intent is not immediately seen in the setting.
In this snapshot provided by
Mark, the context is how little the disciples understood the essence of
greatness. Their perspective was internal, even selfish. They saw themselves as
valuable, even essential in the service of God. They had been discussing all
day who was the greatest (9:33-34). The human heart always seeks out gain and
selfish gratification—even in believers. I call this the reservoir mentality.
It wants to hold the blessings and honors of God for oneself. The reservoir
wants to dam up the living water of Christ to show off how much it can hold. It
shows people the amazing amount it can hold. These types of believers fail to see
the purpose of their existence.
It is this attitude that Jesus
deals with here. As Jesus often does in his dealing with the disciples, he
simply asks a question—“what were you
discussing on the way?” (v. 33). Simple but direct. With this type of
question you immediately know that you were doing the wrong thing. You have no
good answer. You just keep silent. Guilt
and shame drape over you like a blanket. What we fail to understand is that
greatest is a comparative term. It prides itself in rank. This is clearly seen
in their disputing. Their false assumption, and one we can get caught up in, is
that obtaining rank now among others assures us rank in God’s kingdom.
He answers with a paradox: “If
anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all” (v. 35). Williamson
observes: “Jesus does not despise the desire to be first, but his definition of
greatness stands the world’s ordering of priorities on its head and radically
challenges a fundamental assumption about achievement.”[1]
Jesus illustrates this by taking
a child in his arms, and declaring: “Whoever
receives one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me
does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me” (v. 37). Here Jesus is hiding
greatest in the photograph of a child. The child represents Tthe most needy of
society. In the world of Jesus, children were considered as people of
dependence, having no power, and as needy. True greatest is reaching down
(grace in action) and receiving them. The word receiving means to have concern, care, and kindness toward them. It
also involves an element of protection and provision. The basis for the action
is in my name. Greatest involves not
selfishness, but selflessness. Greatness in the eyes of Jesus is ministry. It
is sharing the blessings of grace. It is not being a reservoir of the grace
granted to us, but a channel of the grace to others. The action of being a
channel of grace in reality shows Christ the giver of grace. Are you a
reservoir or a channel? The difference determines greatest in the eyes of our
Lord.
Well, I also perceive this from the point of identity: that a child takes its identity from the parent or guardian, as the case may be.It is not normal, for instance, for a normal child to seek to be known outside what is known of its parents or guardians. Yes, the child may be very brilliant and noticeable, or even exceptional, but the overriding issue will always be this: whose child is this? That was clearly the identity of Jesus as a child even in days of His flesh. Generally the society sees a child from the picture of its parents or guardians. So it must be for every true Christian, and much more so, for every true Christian leader. Every believer is birthed anew in Christ. We are His babes as it were. We are who we are because of Who He is and of what He did.That is to say, the more we manifest the image of Christ in our lives, and not our personalities, the more we manifest Him Who gave birth to us, and the more we look closer to what Christ is saying here. Just as the Baptist put it - He must increase but we must decrease. The more our personality disappears into the personality of Christ the greater we are in the eyes of the Lord. And what really matters to heaven is how acceptable we are to the Lord than how acceptable we are to folks around us.The true Christian leader therefore must be he or she who manifests Christ more than others - he or she whose personality reflect more of Christ than others.The word of God says that whatsoever and whosoever is glorified by the world is an abomination to our God. The conventional definition of leadership, even today's Church is "who is the most knowledgeable, the most popular, and the most acceptable to folks - whose personality can attract the highest respect and follower-ship. Yet we know that the humility that is in Christ Jesus is not very popular even among believing folks - and this is world-wide. Until the Holy Ghost is given His proper place in the body of Christ, we will continue to miss it in all areas of our walk with the Lord, and more particularly, in the area of leadership in His vineyard. Bless you Sir.
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