THE WAY TO GREATNESS LUKE 9:43-50
The way to real greatness lies in humility. There is no greater honour on earth than being accepted by others as a servant of God and Jesus Christ.
The way of servant leadership is very hard to many Christians. Many prefer the easy way of the world of bossing others rather than serving them, but that is not the way of God. Ambition of honour and strife for superiority and precedency are sins that most easily beset Christians today, as it were in the time of the Disciples of Jesus Christ. We, as they were, also deserve to be rebuked because it flows from the corruptions which we are highly concerned to subdue and mortify.
All who expect to be great in this world commonly aim high and nothing will serve them short of being the greatest. This exposes them to a great deal of temptation and trouble which is not the lot of those that has less ambition and are content with little.
Jesus Christ is perfectly acquainted with the thoughts and intents of our hearts. To Christ, thoughts are words and whispers are loud cries. This is a good reason why we must keep up a strict government of our thoughts, because Christ takes a strict cognizance of them. Christ wishes for Christians is that we should aim at honour and greatness by means of a quiet and condescending humility and through a restless and aspiring ambition. He used a child to illustrate the Lords desired level of humility from Christians.
Jesus exhorted the disciples to be of the temper of a child, humble and quiet, and easy to itself. The exhortation is also for us today. We should not affect worldly pomp or grandeur or high title, but must be as dead to them as a little child. We must bear no malice to our rivals and competitors. We must be willing to be the least if that will contribute to our usefulness. We must stoop to the meanest office where we can be useful and do well.
Humility is something that is gained and practiced as we grow in wisdom and grace. Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary defines humility as a ‘’prominent Christian grace’’. It is a state of mind well pleasing to God. It preserves the soul in tranquillity and makes a man patient under trials. Biblically speaking, humility is the opposite of pride. According to one Thesaurus source, some other antonyms for humility are arrogance, assertiveness, egoism, pretentiousness and self-importance. The following as scriptural support for your personal meditations:
The Lord causes and expects humility:
Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Psalm 25:9, Psalm 55:19
Humility prophesied and exhorted in Jesus:
Zachariah 9:9, Mark 10:45, Philippians 2:5-8
Examples of humility in other people in the Bible:
Genesis 18:27 (Abraham), Genesis 41:16 (Joseph), Exodus 3:11 (Moses), 1 Kings 21:29, Luke 1:43 (Elizabeth), Mark 1:7 (John the Baptist), 2 Corinthians 10:1 (Paul)
Results of Humility:
2 Chronicles 12:12, Job 22:29, Psalm 18:27, Psalm 18:27, Psalm 149:4, Proverbs 11:2.
Christians must be assured that humility is the most reliable and sure way to preferment. It will recommend us to the esteemed and to kings and princes. I have seen it work in the Anglican Communion. The present Arch-Bishop of Canterbury who was only 20 years (He was ordained Deacon in 1992 and announced the 105 Archbishop of the See of Canterbury in December 9th 2012), in the ministry as at the time he was announced came through preferment. There were other powerful and influential men before him in the ministry who could have received the privilege and honour at the time. His humility at various levels and positions in life (especially during his service in Kenya and Nigeria testified for him before man and before God. And God lifted him.
What greater honour can a man receive in life than to be received by men as a messenger of God and Christ and to have God and Christ own us, received and welcomed to Him. This honour remains the exclusive preserve and rights of true Christians (believers in Christ). They shall be truly great even though they are the least in the world.
