the greatest:day one
[Read & meditate on Luke 9.46-48. The last sentence could be translated as, “Whoever is the most humble and servant-hearted among you is the most significant.” How do you tend to strive for significance?]
We seem to think that significance is connected to being noticed. If I do impressive things and people see me, they will have a high opinion of me. Significance seems to be connected with self-promotion–at least the way we pursue significance. I get this sense that in order to be great I have to do more and be more. I need to rise above the crowd. I have to do what no one else could do. It’s about competition and pride. It’s about making me look good, often at the expense of others. It clashes terribly with what Jesus says. It seems like it actually makes me less human rather than making me a greater human.
There’s a commonly believed myth going around that significant people are the ones that everyone’s looking at. Just because a building is tall doesn’t mean it’s significant. Sure it looks perty, but maybe the police station or hospital is more important. Police station and hospital people are the significant people. …And I’m over here trying to build the tallest tower! (They always fall anyway.)