Monday, January 30, 2017

Aspiring to Greatness

Tony Evans writes in Kingdom Man, a remarkably helpful and challenging book that I have been reading.

I'll admit it: I don't mind -- I want to be great. And if you were brutally honest, I would bet that you also want to be great. but what might surprise you, and what I would like to suggest, is that far from what we often hear in the biblical teaching on servanthood and humility is that God wants you to be great as well.

Not only does God want you to be great in His kingdom, but He has also destined you for it.

Greatness is maximizing your potential for the glory of God and the good of others. The apostle Paul urged those under his influence when he wrote to the church at Thessalonica to "excel still more" in how they obeyed god's commands (1 Thessalonians 4:1). he urged the Corinthians to always abound in the work of the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:58) and to seek greatness in all that they did since all that they did, according to 1 Corinthians 10:31, was to be done to glorify God.

Men, I want you to experience this truth. Hear me when I say this -- it is okay to want greatness. That is not something you have to mumble when no one is listening or an idea you have to check at the church door. I realize it may seem to fly in the face of what you have heard as a call to be meek, humble, and a servant of all, but authentic greatness never negates any of those characteristics. In fact, authentic greatness includes the true definition of all of them.