When my son was a little boy, baseball was everything to him. I remember when he was about 3, his daddy would place him between the rungs of a ladder laying on the ground and throw wiffle balls to him. The object was to teach him not to move around. As he grew, we signed him up for a T-ball team. That was the beginning of many years of other teams, practices and games. As he grew older, his goal was to become a great baseball player. A good player wasn’t enough. He wanted to be great.
The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most profound sermons ever preached. Jesus had no power point, no flip chart, and no flannelgraph to aid Him in teaching. He had a varied audience of skeptics, rich people, poor people and everything in between. His message carried no specific doctrine, just basic information about living a godly life. He taught about anger, lust, divorce, taking oaths, loving your enemies, the needy, how to pray, fasting, worldly possessions, anxiety, judging others, treatment of others, pretending to serve God, and making good choices. He wanted to show them that He had the authority to teach them about these things. Many in His audience were good people. He wanted to take them from good to great. The essence of His sermon is found in His statement, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).
Good is defined by the New American Oxford Dictionary as: “of a favorable character or tendency; suitable, fit, can be relied on, adequate, satisfactory”. If you think about it, the word “good” carries with it the idea of being average, satisfactory, but not great.
Great is defined as: “notably large in size; eminent, distinguished, remarkably skilled, marked by enthusiasm, full of emotion.” You can see why saying you are great at something carries more weight than just being good.
So, where does greatness fit into God’s kingdom? The only way we can know is by examining scripture. There, in the Bible, we will see whether or not being great is important.
The disciples certainly thought about being great because the subject came up several times. Once, while traveling to Capernaum, Jesus confronted them about an argument they had. He asked them what they were discussing, and they wouldn’t tell Him. But He knew. They had argued about which of them was the greatest. Jesus simply took a child and held him. Then He said, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me” (Mark 9:37 ESV).
The religious leaders thought being great was important. Since they felt a sense of pride for knowing the law, one of their lawyers asked Jesus a question. He said, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” You would think that they believed all of God’s laws to be great, but he was trying to trick Jesus. Jesus answered the lawyer without hesitation. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment” (Matthew 22:36-37).
Before Jesus sent the seventy-two out to the places He would eventually visit, He sent them into places that would accept them and places that would reject them. He sent them with this statement, “The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few…” (Luke 10:2 KJV).
The apostle Paul understood the difference between good and great. After instructing the Corinthians about the use of spiritual gifts, he wanted to show them that there was something that would be present when those gifts were no longer needed. Paul said, “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (First Corinthians 13:13).
When Jesus was preparing His disciples for His ascension back to heaven after the resurrection, some of them still doubted. Jesus made a statement to them to assure them of who He was and from where His authority came. Then He gave them their final instructions. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). This is known as the great commission.
“Good is the enemy of great. And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great.” This is the beginning of the book, “Good to Great”, written by Jim Collins. He believes this to be true in our schools, our government, and our personal lives. Mr. Collins captured a truth Jesus taught over 2,000 years ago. His goal is to take businesses from good to great. Our challenge is to take our lives from good to great.
What is the formula for greatness? It is simple. Humble ourselves in the sight of God; love God with all your heart, soul, and mind; abide in love; see the world as a great harvest, and wherever we go, practice the great commission.
Being great is not perfection. Being great is about working at the Christian life one day at a time, never focusing on what we have done but looking for more ways to serve Him.
The Christian life is a lot like my son learning to play baseball. Keep practicing, and keep using those skills to better serve the Lord. Work toward being a great servant of God.
Sandra Oliver