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.