And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”
Who is the greatest? In sports that phrase is known as the G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time). In sports, business, entertainment and countless other professions, being the greatest is not only recognized and admired, it is also highly rewarded and sought after. Being the greatest in your field makes you highly wanted. As the greatest you often get to write your own ticket. The difference between a .200 hitter in baseball and a .300 hitter in baseball is that the .300 hitter gets only one more hit per every ten times at bat than the .200. Only one more! Yet, in reality the difference between the two is that the .300 hitter is famous, gets a large contract, multiple homes to live in and stardom. The .200 hitter is traded from team to team to team. Only one more! These people are the G.O.A.T. in their profession. The disciples, even in Jesus’ day, wanted to be the G.O.A.T. of disciples. Jesus, however, turns their mindset upside down by telling them the greatest in the Kingdom of God is not the most powerful, or the most prestigious, or the most anything. Jesus tells them the greatest in the Kingdom of God is the servant. The one no one sees. The .300 hitter probably has people serving them. They might not even pay any attention to them. They are like the little child. They have no power, no resume, no history of accomplishments, no notoriety. Simple child-like faith is all they have. That is the greatest in Jesus’ kingdom. Like all mankind the disciples were obsessed with status. Note what we read later in the next chapter:
Mark 10:35-37 (ESV)
The Request of James and John
And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”
Jesus replies the same way to them but adds His own example to empathize His own willingness to give up status:
Mark 10:43-45 (ESV)
But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
To be the G.O.A.T. in life you have to impress people with measurements and rubric analytics. In Christianity you are not supposed to strive to be the G.O.A.T., you are to strive to be the C.H.I.L.D. (Called by Him Into a Life of Devotion)
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