Coming Out On Top: Meaning Or Mirage?
The greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves … I am among you as one who serves.
Luke 22:26-27
Things are not always as they appear.
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The man who struggles across the barren desert may see water on the horizon but never reach it because what he sees is a mirage.
In Luke 22 the disciples argued with each other over who deserved the title of “Tops Among the Twelve.”
But as Christ pointed out, they were striving after a mirage. W. H. Griffith Thomas explains that true greatness lies in another direction.
WALK WITH W. H. GRIFFITH THOMAS
“Our Lord’s claim upon us presses us at every point, and the world and the church wait to see something of the infinite possibilities of the life of the true Christian.
“Four great words of the New Testament surely sum up our responsibility. Be it ours to realize them in all their fullness of meaning. ‘I should’; ‘I ought’; ‘I must’; ‘I will.’
“That is, I am inclined to respond; I am impelled to respond; I am compelled to respond; I am determined to respond.
“It is ours to say what David’s followers said to their master: ‘Your servants are ready to do whatever our lord the king chooses’ (2 Samuel 15:14).”
WALK CLOSER TO GOD
Two models of greatness confronted the disciples: one from the world and dependent on achievement and recognition, the other from the Savior and flowing from selfless service.
Who is the greatest? The world would reply, “The one who comes out on top.”
Who is the greatest? The Savior would reply, “The one who, by his willing service, helps others come out on top.”
One is only a mirage. The other points the way to a greatness that time cannot dim.
Choose carefully which course you follow. After all, no one likes to discover—too late—that they were chasing a mirage.
