Recently, I encountered a student applying to a Bible University to pursue a theology degree. Somewhere in the middle of our conversation, I asked him, which of these two would you rather be: “A GREAT man of God” or “A man of a GREAT God”?
He stated twice and in a very emphatic manner that the goal he was aspiring for was to become “A GREAT man of God!” It was clear from the way he spoke that he was preoccupied with the pursuit of greatness and was not interested in embracing any alternative that what would not make him seem great. He preferred to be known as a “GREAT man of God”. He never wanted to be stripped off the title. He was abscessed with the ideal of basking in the lime light on the pinnacles of glory. He was not content to humble himself and serve as a mere “man of a GREAT God.”
It was very evident that the idol of self, which fiercely seeks fame and greatness for itself, was alive and well in this young man’s life. And This idol is one of the many idols that we harbor in our lives too.
So, in our quest to serve the living God, are you willing to put your Christian service in his hands, being happy to fulfill whatever roles he has for you without trying to force your way in, and without kicking those around you in order to push yourself to the top? Are you willing to lay aside your obsession for pursuing greatness, celebrity status or for recognition as a Christian empire builder? These are real challenges that we face in our lives today. And, make no mistake, we are all either serving the living God or ourselves through a medium of such idols.
We should be willing to humble ourselves so that Christ can be exalted. We should be willing to unite our voices with John the Baptist’s and declare of Christ as he did in John 3:30, “He must increase, I must decrease.”
Moses spent forty years in Pharaoh’s court thinking he was somebody, forty years in the desert learning that he was nobody, and forty years thereafter showing what God can do with a somebody who found out he was a nobody.
— Dwight L. Moody
