How to Be Great
“How to be great?” This is a question I have been pondering in my times with Jesus this year. There are a lot of ways to be great in different arenas. In sports it is possible to become a great player or team, though in our local sports scene we haven’t seen a great team in quite a while (but there’s always next season, right?). We see greatness in art and music. There are business and financial greats that launch themselves to the top of their sectors. In following Jesus, I think it is ok to ask the question how are we to become great. The question in following Jesus is best asked, though, as “how do we become great in God’s Kingdom?”
The Kingdom of God is one of the most discussed things by Jesus throughout the Gospels. Yet it is one of the most difficult for us to understand and talk about. It is easier for us to talk about the church, evangelism or discipleship. These are tangible. The Kingdom of God is largely intangible and far more vast which leads to the confusion around it. Yet Jesus proclaimed a Gospel of the Kingdom and we are told to seek first the Kingdom of God. If we are to be obedience to the call of Jesus it is of utmost importance for us to strive after being great in the Kingdom of God.
In my pursuit of what it looks like to be great in the Kingdom of God I have tried to simplify it through looking at Jesus’ life as the best example of what it looks like to be great in the Kingdom of God. Jesus’ life was a living and breathing example of being great in God’s Kingdom. I can’t do everything Jesus did, but I should at least strive for Christlikeness. And if I exhibit a character that looks more and more like Jesus and if I prioritize the same things Jesus prioritizes, I will become closer and closer to being great in God’s Kingdom.
The upside-down reality of God’s Kingdom, though, is that being great in God’s Kingdom doesn’t look great everywhere and with everything. The harsh reality we all must reckon with is this: You can be GREAT at vocational ministry and a FAILURE in the Kingdom. There are things required of us in ministry that can make us achieve a lot and look really good that have very little to do with the character and priorities of Jesus. We have seen pastors with large platforms and every worldly measure of success imaginable be absolute failures in God’s Kingdom because of a personal life that was completely removed from the character and priorities of Jesus. A Venn diagram of what I am thinking about looks like this:
We all have things we do in ministry that don’t intersect exactly with what it takes to be great in God’s Kingdom. We have to keep our churches operating and make sure the state gets required documents from us. The sector that has been capturing my attention are the things that Jesus valued that would not be required of me to be seen as successful in ministry. Will I value the same things that Jesus values even if it doesn’t exactly contribute to a “successful” church or ministry by worldly metrics? Here are 2 initial areas of Jesus’ priorities that I have noticed and am pondering how they fit in my life if I want to become great in God’s Kingdom:
Spending a considerable amount of time in communion with God.
Spending regular times with the poor and the “least of these” among us.
Want to become great in God’s Kingdom? My invitation to you would be to join me in deeply pondering Jesus’ character and priorities and moving towards spending time and energy to become more like Jesus.
Kyle Magstadt
Associate Superintendent for
Church Multiplication