What is your greatest wish for your children? Happiness, wealth, health, comfort, love, power, fame? I think every mother starts out believing their child is destined for greatness. Mom is sure her little boy is a genius because he could count to 10 and say his ABC’s before he was three years old, and her little girl is sure to be the first female president of the United States since she potty-trained before she was two. I’ve never known a mother who didn’t want great things for her kids.
The mother of James and John, two of Jesus’ closest comrades, was no different. In Matthew 20, we learn that she dropped to her knees before Jesus and made the bold request that her two boys be granted to flank Him on their own thrones when He eventually sat upon the throne of His kingdom. Any mother might have done the same thing. How did Jesus respond to this request for greatness? By teaching them what true greatness really looks like. “Whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many (Matthew 20:26-28).”
Greatness is not found in climbing the ladder of success and mounting a throne of power, prestige, or big profits. If that’s the direction we steer our children, they will likely use, abuse, and hurt a lot of people along the way. They’ll likely learn to serve themselves instead of God (Matt. 6:24), and they might even lose their souls (Luke 9:24-25).
Instead, Jesus explains that true greatness is found in selflessness, surrender, sacrifice, and service—choosing to bring God glory instead of seeking their own glory; choosing to let go of their own agendas and live for the center of God’s will; choosing to care less about meeting their own needs and sacrifice to meet the needs of others instead; choosing to give their lives for the glory of God and the good of all peoples. That’s greatness by God’s definition. That might mean a little hut in Honduras instead of a corner office in Cleveland. That might mean a nursing job for pennies in New Guinea instead of thousands in New Jersey. That might mean sharing the gospel to the homeless instead of selling houses on the lake.
So the question is really this: At the end of their lives, do we want our children to hear “well done” from the world or from God?
