Whoever wants to become great
among you must be your servant.
—Mark 10:43
Martin Luther King Jr. preached one of his stem-winder sermons based on Jesus’ words, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.”
“Everybody can be great,” said King, “because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.”
James and John had lobbied for the prominent positions on the seating-chart in the coming kingdom. When the other ten of the big-twelve heard about it, they were indignant.
Jesus let them know that greatness isn’t achieved by position, but by disposition—not by ascending the ladder, but by holding it for someone else.
Ego is a formidable foe.