Keys to Greatness:  Submission and Service

 

        By A. W. Tozer

 

      . . . Whosoever will be great among you,

        let him be your minister; And whosoever

        will be chief among you, let him be your

        servant. Matthew 20:26,27

 

            The  essence of Christ's  teaching concerning

        greatness was this: true greatness among humans

        must be found in character, not in ability or position.

 

            While a few philosophers and religionists of pre-

        Christian times had noted the fallacy in man's ideas of

        dominion and status, it was Christ who defined and

        demonstrated true greatness.

 

          "Let him be your minister: let him be your servant."

        It is that simple and that easy---and that difficult!

 

            We have but to follow Christ in service to the human

        race, a selfless service that seeks only to serve, and

        greatness will be ours!  That is all, but it is too much, for

        it runs counter to all that is Adam in us.  Adam still feels

        the instinct for dominion; he hears deep within him the

        command, "Replenish the earth and subdue it."  There-

        fore he does not take kindly to the command to serve!

 

            Sin must go and Adam must give way to Christ: so

        says our Lord in effect.  By sin men have lost dominion,

        even their very right to it, until they win it back by

        humble service.

 

            Though redeemed from death and hell by the

        vicarious labor of Christ on the cross, still the right to

        have dominion must be won by each man separately.

        Each must fulfill a long apprenticeship as a servant

        before he is fit to rule.

 

            After Christ had served (and His service included

        death) God highly exalted Him and gave Him a name

        above every name.  As a man He served and won His

        right to have dominion. He knew where true greatness

        lay---and we do not. 

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        Yours in Christ,

        Paul N. F.