greatness

Matthew 18:1 About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked,

     "Which of us is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?"



  2 Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them.


3 Then he said,

      "I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.

       4 So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.



  5 "And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me.

          6 But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.



  10 "Beware that you don't look down on any of these little ones.

For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father.



humble, according to dictionary.com

1. not proud or arrogant; modest: to be humble although successful.

2. having a feeling of insignificance, inferiority, subservience, etc.: In the presence of so many world-famous writers I felt very humble.

3. low in rank, importance, status, quality, etc.; lowly: of humble origin; a humble home.

4. courteously respectful: In my humble opinion you are wrong.

5. low in height, level, etc.; small in size: a humble member of the galaxy.


You have to hand it to the disciples - they had some guts.

Asking the God of the universes which one of them, the disciples, is greatest in the Kingdom.

As my wife says, "Don't ask the question unless you're prepared for the answer."

I doubt the disciples were prepared for the answer Jesus gave.

Jesus starkly pointed out that those who simple & humble, like children, are those considered great in the kingdom.

Hmmmmmm... I wonder... if they REALLY absorbed that piece of information & owned it, how do you think that would make someone like Joseph Prince feels?

Or Benny Hinn?

Steven Furtick?

Rick Warren?

Joel Osteen?

Creflo Dollar?

Joyce Meyer?

Eddie Long?

Pat Robertson?

Jimmy Swaggart?

John Haggee?

And I'm sure the humility is the standard by which greatness is accredited in the Kingdom would come as a great surprise to most of us, too - you & me - if we really let it sink in.



I'm afraid we have a much bigger success orientation attached to who is great.

We've adopted the idea that big is better,

     that a "healthy self concept" (which, when I was growing up, was called an overblown ego) is preferable,

     and that greatness is measured by

           how many,
           how much,
           how brilliant,
           how smooth,
           how ____________ (you fill in the blank)


Jesus says here that the real measuring stick for greatness is a little bit different.



How should we then live is what Jesus said is true?

Think about it.

I'm going to.