The Currency of True Greatness is Humility

Dr. Jerry Sheveland, a pastor and President of Converge Worldwide, wrote, “In the economy of God’s kingdom, humility is the currency of true greatness.”

Christians know this, right? God’s Word is clear. In both the Old and New Testaments we are told: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Proverbs 3:34, James 4:6

But even the closest followers of Christ can allow pride into their lives and ministry. In Mark 9 and 10, Jesus addressed this issue. Early in Mk. 9, we read about an incredible transfiguration moment where only three of the disciples were invited. What were the other disciples doing during that time? We read that a man brought his demon possessed son to them and here is what the man said to Jesus about it afterwards; 18b … “I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” What followed soon after was Jesus confronting a pride problem among His closest disciples.

In vs35 Jesus asked the disciples what they were discussing. Here’s what came next:

Mark 9:34-35 ESV But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. ³⁵ And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

Then, we jump over to Mark 10:35-41 where James and John asked Jesus if they could sit at the right hand of Jesus in His glory and the other ten disciples were very displeased about their request. Here’s what happened next:

Mark 10:42-45 ESV  And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. ⁴³ But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴ and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus confronted their pride which was at the heart of their dispute, anger, and desires. This is a sin of arrogance. A prideful person has a swollen puffed up ego, basically trying to position their self into an ‘I’m better than you’ spot in life. They think they are better than others, smarter than others and more deserving than others. Pride is self-exaltation and we know from Scripture; Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Luke 14:11

What triggered the prideful dispute among the disciples in Mark 9? Probably because only Peter, James, and John got to go with Jesus on the mountain for His amazing transfiguration moment and the other nine disciples were experiencing spiritual failure in the valley. At any given time some of us Christians are enjoying a measure of spiritual success, while others are dealing with disappointment and discouragement. Comparing ourselves with each other in a jealous worldly sense is an invitation to pride.

Imagine their conversations, “You got to do this and we didn’t. Jesus likes you more than me. I’m better than you. I’m just as important as you are. I’ve got this privilege and ability and you don’t. I’m the greatest among us.” We are all tempted by pride, thinking thoughts like, “There are always people lower than me on the totem pole of life and I deserve to be where I am because I’m better than those other people. I want to be great! I am great.” and so on.

Here is a simple example of pride in ministry life today. Imagine a ministry team gathers for a meal time and one of them has these thoughts, “As I look around this place, I’m the VIP here. I deserve to go first and sit at the head table. I deserve to be seen and heard here today. I expect several people to come talk to me, ask what I think, and get my opinion on things around here. I better not be ignored because I’ve done a lot for this ministry and they’d really miss me and my contributions if I left.” Those are prideful thoughts.

Jesus doesn’t just confront and convict His followers about our pride. Jesus wants to cultivate His greatness of humility in us.

In our culture most people think of being first and top ranked as most important and most valued. The winners come out on top. They are the best. They’re #1. They’re first. But Jesus says ‘if you would be first, you must be last.’ What? In major sports competition the last place is thought of as the worst of the bunch, the bottom of the totem pole. We live in a culture that loves to rate and rank and compare and elevate value to the top people and top things.

Prideful ambition says that if anyone desires to be first, then get yourself in a position to be served by all. Jesus however, speaks counter to our culture by basically saying, “In my kingdom, if you want to be first, you must be last of all and servant of all.”

Being humble, serving others in God honoring ways is essential to being great in God’s kingdom.

Here are some simple examples of this in church life and Christian living. We gather for a fellowship meal and instead of rushing to get your food quickly, you look around and find out who could use some help. Maybe there is an elderly person, a special needs person, a woman with a young child to help, etc.. And you are willing to let everyone else go before you. My wife is classic at doing this at mealtime. Many times, Kym has prepared dinner for our family of six and then at the table she wants to serve up everyone else’s plate before her own plate. She is often the last to begin eating and she has often been the last in the kitchen cleaning up at night. This is changing however as the boys and I try to serve her plate first and clean up afterwards.

Our best example of humble greatness was modeled by the incarnated Christ.  The eternal Son of God greatly humbled Himself by becoming flesh, becoming a servant to needy people (including you and me), teaching, feeding, and healing people, washing His disciples’ feet, ultimately dying for our sins.

The closest disciples of Christ still had much to learn about applying the teaching and example of Christ-like humility in their lives and we probably do as well. We are all imperfect people who know what it’s like to struggle with pride and selfishness and all sorts of sins, which is why we all need the grace, truth, love, mercy, and help of Jesus Christ.

These Bible passages should cause us to pray, “Lord, search me and reveal to me if there is any pride in my life and if there is, show the specifics to me, forgive me and transform me that I would be more humble in your eyes.”

I remind you of what Jerry Sheveland wrote, “In the economy of God’s kingdom, humility is the currency of true greatness.”

What are your thoughts on this?

Mike