03/09/2021
Pursuing Greatness
Jesus describes the requirements for greatness in the kingdom of God, which on earth is represented by His church.
1. Obedience to the Word
“Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” - Matthew 5:19
The very first criteria for spiritual greatness is one's obedience to God's word. In other passages, Jesus confirms this basic principle. For example,
• In John 14:15 - he says, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."
• In John 12:48 - he says, "He who rejects Me, and does not receive my sayings, has one who judges him: The word which I spoke. That will judge him on the last day."
It is very hard for "great" people in this world to be "great" in the kingdom of God, because so much of what they must do to be great in this world, is contrary to what Jesus teaches in his word. The rich young ruler in Luke 18:18 was great in his own Jewish society. He was intelligent, he had a position, the public respected him and he had wealth. He also wanted to be great in a spiritual sense (possess eternal life) so Jesus told him to let go of his wealth and follow Him - this, we learn, was too much for the rich young man to do. His wealth was his security, and trusting Jesus rather than wealth was beyond him. The desire to excel, to improve, to rise above is natural to mankind but in order to be great in a spiritual sense, one must harness that natural desire and focus it on the task of understanding and obeying God's word. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. - Matthew 5:5
Throughout the Bible, we see many men and women who became great because of their obedience to God's word. For example,
• Abraham obeyed and was willing to sacrifice his son
• Moses obeyed and went to the Pharaoh demanding freedom for his people
• Mary obeyed and accepted her Spirit induced pregnancy
• Jesus obeyed and went to the cross to die for sinners
They focused all their energy and talent on carrying out God's word. It is wise to be prudent about what we do in church as far as worship is concerned, or how we organize a congregation and other matters that are done according to the instructions given to us in the word of God. However, being great in God's eyes is not about being successful or dynamic, but rather about being obedient in both great and small matters. Whether our actions involve important matters, like dispensing mercy and justice, or small matters, like how we conduct a worship service, prayer meeting, meeting the needs of other people, the basic criteria for judging our individual and collective greatness in the kingdom of God will be measured by how well we've obeyed God's word
