Serve to be Great

God’s kingdom is truly an upside kingdom in which the first is last and to be great you must be a servant. It is definitely not the world’s way where people want to be recognized and seen as great, affluent, powerful and expecting to be served. There are many people who aspire to be a minister, whether in government or religion because they deem this a prestigious title. But the real meaning of minister in Latin is a servant, attendant or subordinate. It is a derivative of the word “minus” which means less.  So, ministers of any sort are actually servants. The prime minister of any country is the chief servant. I wish we could get a real understanding of this. Jesus knowing that His disciples were jostling for a position of prominence in His ministry made it clear to them how they ought to be.

Calling them to Himself, Jesus *said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:42-45

Serving doesn’t come naturally for many of us. It is more in our nature to want to be served. But even Jesus came to serve, and He is the King of kings and Lords of lords. If we are to follow Jesus, then we must become the servant of all. And when we lead, we should do so with a servant’s heart, not lording it over anyone, throwing our weight around as we exert our power. That is not of God. If we want to be a part of His kingdom, we must humble ourselves and become like little children.

But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” Mark10:14-15

Many of us do not understand this, therefore pride will be our downfall. God hates arrogance and pride. He will humble the proud and He opposes them. This is stated repeatedly in His Word. If you don’t believe me, please go check it out yourself. You can start with Isaiah 2:12, Proverbs 16:18, James 4:6, and Luke 14:11. These are just a few verses which express the downfall of the proud. God will even bring down a nation because of pride.

Who has planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth? The Lord of hosts has planned it, to defile the pride of all beauty, to despise all the honored of the earth. Isaiah 23:8-9

God does not play around with pride. He hates it. The Prophet Isaiah spoke of the Lord having a day of reckoning against the proud and lofty. Even His own people would have to face His wrath if they did not repent of their pride.

In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill; and he prayed to the Lord, and the Lord spoke to him and gave him a sign. But Hezekiah gave no return for the benefit he received, because his heart was proud; therefore wrath came on him and on Judah and Jerusalem. However, Hezekiah humbled the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come on them in the days of Hezekiah. 2 Chronicles 32:24-26

It is so important that we each examine our hearts to see if pride is lingering around. We may even have to ask God to show us if there is any pride in us. We may miss it because false humility could be pride in us. Pride can be very sneaky and dangerous because God loathes it so much that He could humble us in a manner which we may not prefer.

I have thought about the stripping seasons of my life and wondered if God was taking away all I had to remove pride in me. And He does this because of His love for us.  We have to be intentional about keeping pride away and one of the ways to do this is not seeking to be great but rather being ready to serve. When we are in this humble position, then it is God who will exalt us.  In God’s kingdom, you must serve to be great.