Mark 9:33-35
As I was reading this passage, I couldn't help but snicker at how many times my children and others take it out of context. I hear children (mine included) argue over who will be first, and then someone will speak up and say, "The first will be last and the last will be first, so I'm going to go last, so I can be first." I even remember doing some of that when I was young. However, I think something got lost in the translation and message Christ was trying to get across.
In the Jewish culture of that time, rank and status were important. Here are grown men arguing about who is greater after they've seen and heard Christ many times and witnessed countless miracles. Sounds similar to us in America today, trying to be successful, "get to the top." However, Jesus was trying to get a point across that none of that matters in God's kingdom. In our culture today, greatness and success is equated with money, power, high position, etc, yet that is completely opposite what God considers "great." Several times in the Gospels, Jesus refers to having a servant's heart. In a parallel passage in Matthew, Jesus explains that "whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:4) The footnotes in my Bible note, "trusting and unpretentious." Greatness in God's eyes comes from a heart of true humility and service to others. Jesus is our ultimate example of someone who had a servant's heart.
I need to be careful of my motive, however, when serving. I shouldn't be doing it to get attention and recognition from others. That's what the Pharisees tried to do. They wanted recognition for what they did. When I serve, I need to have an attitude of true humility and service, not for the attention of others, but because of my love for God and others.
In God's eyes, there is not one person "greater" than another. We are all sinners, period. Christ's shed blood covers that sin, if we choose to believe and accept Him. At that point, we stand equal in God's sight. There isn't rank and status in God's kingdom...i.e. "I've done more 'good' than you so I'm better in God's eyes, " or "My sin isn't as horrendous as that other person, so God see me as better." My sin, doesn't make me any less than another person in God's sight, and the lack of sin in my own eyes, doesn't make me any greater in God's sight. The "good" I do for others doesn't make me greater in God's kingdom than someone else. However, if it's done with the right attitude and heart, it will make me "great" in God's eyes. I hesitate to use the words "good" and "great" because they are so easily taken out of context, so I pray the thoughts I'm trying to convey come across in the right way.
When my life comes to an end, in whose eyes will I have been great? Will it be the world's or God's? All that matters in the end is how God sees me. Man only sees my outward appearance and actions, but God sees and knows my true heart.
As I was reading this passage, I couldn't help but snicker at how many times my children and others take it out of context. I hear children (mine included) argue over who will be first, and then someone will speak up and say, "The first will be last and the last will be first, so I'm going to go last, so I can be first." I even remember doing some of that when I was young. However, I think something got lost in the translation and message Christ was trying to get across.
In the Jewish culture of that time, rank and status were important. Here are grown men arguing about who is greater after they've seen and heard Christ many times and witnessed countless miracles. Sounds similar to us in America today, trying to be successful, "get to the top." However, Jesus was trying to get a point across that none of that matters in God's kingdom. In our culture today, greatness and success is equated with money, power, high position, etc, yet that is completely opposite what God considers "great." Several times in the Gospels, Jesus refers to having a servant's heart. In a parallel passage in Matthew, Jesus explains that "whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:4) The footnotes in my Bible note, "trusting and unpretentious." Greatness in God's eyes comes from a heart of true humility and service to others. Jesus is our ultimate example of someone who had a servant's heart.
I need to be careful of my motive, however, when serving. I shouldn't be doing it to get attention and recognition from others. That's what the Pharisees tried to do. They wanted recognition for what they did. When I serve, I need to have an attitude of true humility and service, not for the attention of others, but because of my love for God and others.
In God's eyes, there is not one person "greater" than another. We are all sinners, period. Christ's shed blood covers that sin, if we choose to believe and accept Him. At that point, we stand equal in God's sight. There isn't rank and status in God's kingdom...i.e. "I've done more 'good' than you so I'm better in God's eyes, " or "My sin isn't as horrendous as that other person, so God see me as better." My sin, doesn't make me any less than another person in God's sight, and the lack of sin in my own eyes, doesn't make me any greater in God's sight. The "good" I do for others doesn't make me greater in God's kingdom than someone else. However, if it's done with the right attitude and heart, it will make me "great" in God's eyes. I hesitate to use the words "good" and "great" because they are so easily taken out of context, so I pray the thoughts I'm trying to convey come across in the right way.
When my life comes to an end, in whose eyes will I have been great? Will it be the world's or God's? All that matters in the end is how God sees me. Man only sees my outward appearance and actions, but God sees and knows my true heart.
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