The only exception.

[Jesus] began to question them, “What were you discussing on the way?” But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest. Sitting down, He called the twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” Taking a child, He set him before them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them, “Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me but Him who sent Me.” (Mark 9:33-37, NASB)

I believe it is a good thing to want to be great. Paul commands us to run the race so as to win (1 Cor. 9:24). It's a sad thing, in my opinion, that there are Christians who have no hope of being great. They see people like Mother Theresa or Jim Elliot, and they have no hope of ever being like them. Jesus, in the passage above, does not rebuke the apostles for wanting to be great. He just redirects them.

The thing that stood out to me in this passage is the small steps Jesus sets before the apostles in order to be great. If you want to be the greatest, he says, you need to simply take the last place and serve. The example that he gives them is to set a small child in front of them, take the child in his arms, and say, “Receive this child in my name.” It's not hard, and it's not out of our reach. Do you want to be great? Serve. And serve the one in front of you, even—maybe especially even—that one in front of you is a child.

How many of us attach greatness to loving the child in front of us? Do we not think of speaking to crowds and changing the world? Don't we think of speaking to presidents and world leaders like Billy Graham? Yet Jesus' example of being great is to embrace the child in front of them. Of such, he would say just a couple chapters later, is the kingdom of God (Mark 10:14-15).

Paul tells us to run the race so as to win. What do you picture when you hear that? I wish that what we all pictured is the person in front of us. The moral of an old Leo Tolstoy short story is: “The most important time is now; the most important person is the one in front of us; and the most important thing is to do that person good.” I believe Jesus agrees. When he judged the sheep and the goats, offering the sheep eternal life in the kingdom of God, he asked them about the people who crossed their paths. “I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me” (Matt. 25:35-36). It was not presidents and world leaders that gave the kingdom to the sheep. It was the homeless, hungry, the sick, and even the imprisoned that were the path to the kingdom for those that know God.

Our vision should be set high. We, like Paul, should discipline our body and bring it into subjection. Like Paul, we should forget what lies behind and press forward towards the mark in order to obtain the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. But what does that look like? It does not necessarily mean we should be preaching to the world. Paul said, “How shall they preach except they be sent?” He was called to preach the Gospel. He had no choice. As he put it, “Though I preach the Gospel, I have nothing of which to boast, for necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!”

For those of us not called to preach, however, we have something different set before us. People are set before us every day. Paul's command to the typical church member is, “Study to be quiet, to do your own business, and to work with your hands ... so that you may walk properly before those who are outside” (1 Thes. 4:11).

This is something all of us can do. God gives grace for the things we are called to do. We are to be good stewards of the grace God has given us, not of the grace God has given someone like Paul, Mother Theresa, or Jim Elliot. Jesus tells us that when we are with others, we should shoot for the lowest place, not the highest. Why? “He that humbles himself shall be exalted” (Luk. 14:11).

We need to be reminded of this over and over. We should set our sights high. We should set our sights on being great in the kingdom of God. We should run the race so as to win. This means only that we should serve the person that is in front of us. It means we should constantly humble ourselves, not so that we may eventually exalt ourselves, but so that God can eventually exalt us. As for us, we are to humble ourselves today and each day throughout our lives. The one who is great in the kingdom of God is the one who can be last of all and servant of all throughout his life.

Do not lose hope. You are not called to fulfill the ministry of another. You are called to fulfill your own ministry, and to be a good steward of the grace given to you. This is something you can do. Paul's description of his ministry was this: “None of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). The chances are, your ministry is not to testify of the Gospel of the grace of God in the manner Paul did. The chances are, your ministry is to study to be quiet and attend to your own business, so that you may behave properly towards those who are outside the grace of God. You can do that best by obeying the Lord Jesus, just as Paul did, and devoting yourself completely to that obedience. Love and serve those who are in your path. Take the low place. Humble yourself and serve. It is work. It is denying yourself. It is also the path to greatness in the kingdom of God.