People tend to act weird around people they admire. I stood in line today to get a book signed by a famous author and watched countless individuals stare, fidget, make corny jokes, and ask friends to take their pictures. It made me wonder why truly great people make such an impact on us and cause us to act all weird. I think it’s because secretly we wish we could be like them, we wish we had their guts. So instead we claim to support their message… we buy multiple copies of their books get those books signed, and post our pictures with them on Facebook. The author was Shane Claiborne and whether we agree with him, I think we all wish we could be like him. We all wish we were great. We all wish our lives could make a difference. We all wish we were courageous and radical and followed Jesus in a way that shook things up. As I stood in that line today I came to the conclusion that I was going to be great. I don’t think it was a selfish thought; I simply want my life to matter. There’s something about greatness that can’t be explained in words or summed up with adjectives. There’s something about greatness that goes beyond success or talent. There’s something authentic about greatness that resonates in our heart and soul… we can feel it.
The other day Uncle Paul made a comment that resonated with me. He said that average leaders care about what people think about them whereas great leaders are concerned with what they can get others to believe about themselves. He was paraphrasing a British evangelist
named Steve Chalke who said, "Leadership is not what I can get you to think about me. Leadership is what I can you to think about yourself." My hope is that like Jesus, I can help others to believe in the possibilities of what God can do through them.
I’m learning to be great by learning to serve. We’ll see how this goes…
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
When the disciples asked which one was greatest, Jesus didn't rebuke them for wanting to be great. He just said, if you want to be great, be a servant, and if you want to be first, be last. Being great in Jesus' terms is the greatest.
word to pretty much everything you just said. seriously its crazy how often and well you are saying exactly what i'm thinking - God is so great. i just started reading that book too
Post a Comment