My greatness

If I am to believe the stuff I have recently read in popular books and magazines, I should be adopting a “be cool or die” attitude.   Everywhere I turn there seems to be an obsession with greatness.  Apparently I need to “be a leader not a follower”.

After listening to the latest “you are great and can be successful at anything” mantra, I was left asking myself - does God want me to be great?On the one hand, the bible teaches humility but then there are scriptures like the one “In everything he did he had great success, because the Lord was with him.” (1 Samuel 18: 14)So which is it?As a Christ follower, clearly the answer for me must come from Jesus –“…whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant.” (Matthew 23:11)Thus,

• my greatness is not determined by my leadership skills (even though these are fine skills to acquire)

• my greatness is not determined by how up to date I am with the latest thing (even though keeping myself informed can help me make intelligent choices)

• my greatness is not determined by my physical appearance (even though staying healthy and looking after myself is an admirable trait)

If I am to believe Jesus, my greatness is determined by how I listen to and encourage the ideas of a colleague or employee, how I acknowledge and support the strengths of my husband, how I submit to the insightful and wise advice of my daughter, how I defer to the smarts and know-how of my son, or even how I make non judgmental eye contact with the homeless person at the traffic light.   This kind of heart condition will translate into deeds - of servanthood.Contrary to popular teaching, my greatness is not determined by how "cool" I am, what I achieve nor what I look like, but is determined by how willing I am to serve.Question: What do you think the bible has to say about our personal greatness?Feel free to enter into the conversation by leaving a comment below.  I would love to hear from you.