The Road to True Greatness

And they're kind of struggling here in Luke chapter 9 trying to figure out exactly what it looks like.

Luke 9 · chapter mention

! And I think that we can relate to that. I know I can.

I know the Lord wants me to do things, but sometimes I'm like, Lord, how do I do this? Where do I go?

And it's been a help to me, and I hope it has been to you.

And we're going to see the disciples, Jesus is laying his heart out, and they completely miss the point.

You ever been there?

You're like, all right, Lord, I'll do that.

You know, sometimes I just lay my heart out to my kids.

They're like, yeah, what are we going to have for dinner?

I'm like, good talk, guys.

That's kind of the disciples right here.

That's where we pick up our reading in verse 46.

We're going to read just a few verses here.

The Bible says this,

Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be the greatest?

And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child and set him by him.

And said unto them,

Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me,

And whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me.

For he that is least among you all, the same shall be great.

It's kind of one of those things, okay, Jesus lays it out.

And John answered him and said,

Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and we forbade him, because he followeth not with us.

And Jesus said unto him, I can see Jesus almost just shaking his head,

Forbid him not, for he that is not against us is for us.

What I want to preach a message this morning entitled this,

The Road to True Greatness.

See, the disciples think they're on that road, but they're on the completely wrong road.

And Jesus wants to recalculate their life, so to speak, and say,

This is what true greatness looks like.

It's not about being great in the world's eyes.

The least among you will be the greatest.

So let's have a word of prayer, and then we're going to jump right into it this morning.

Father, thank you for this opportunity.

Thank you for this wonderful time that we've had to lift our voices together.

Thank you for the wonderful special.

Lord, we have so many things that we could say, but thank you seems just not adequate,

but it's all that we have, Lord.

We're so thankful for what you've done for us.

And Lord, I pray that if there is someone here this morning that does not know you as their Savior,

that today would be that day.

Lord, I pray for those that do and claim to follow you,

that, Lord, we would be living a life that you call us to,

that the greatness you have laid for us.

Lord, I pray you would just be with me now.

You would empty me of self.

You would cleanse me of sin.

Fill me with your spirit, Lord.

I need you.

I need you to guide my words and my thoughts, and we ask it in Christ's name.

Amen.

Thank you so much for standing.

You may be seated.

I love the sports debate of the goat.

The greatest of all time.

Every sport pretty much has this, and you turn on the TV, some of you sports people,

you turn on the, and they just are always arguing about who's the goat.

When it comes to basketball, you know, is it Michael Jordan?

Is it LeBron James?

Is it Kobe Bryant?

It's Michael Jordan, right?

Yeah, okay.

Or it's Dirk Nowitzki, actually.

It's actually Dirk, but that's just my own personal opinion.

You know, when it comes to football and quarterbacks especially,

it's kind of really what it comes to.

Is it Tom Brady?

Is it Joe Montana?

Is it Peyton Manning?

Is it down the list?

And maybe it's Uncle Rico in your book.

I don't know really who it is that it could have been.

Hockey, you're like, the only name I know is Wayne Gretzky.

Same here.

Let's just move on.

I was going to ask about the greatest college football team,

but Brother Jonathan's already mentioned from the pulpit what it is,

and so we're not here to cause a church division.

We're here in the unity of the Spirit,

so we're just going to move right along.

But it really doesn't matter if it's sports.

I think that we all have that desire to be great at something.

And there's nothing wrong with the ambition to be great at what you do,

and I think there's things in life that we do crave recognition.

We want to matter.

I think that lives in our hearts.

I mean, you don't wake up in the morning.

You don't wake up tomorrow morning to go to work and be like,

I'm setting out to be the worst of all time.

Now, you may work with that person, but hopefully that's not your mindset.

And just to say this right here, as a Christian, you should strive to do great things for the Lord.

But here's the problem that every human heart wrestles with pride.

You go all the way back to the Garden of Eden, you're going to find it there.

You're going to find it before the Garden of Eden.

It's what caused Satan to fall, that he will be like the Most High,

that he wanted the throne, that he wanted the preeminent.

And inside each of us lives a relentless worshiper of self.

Sometimes we hide it, but it's in there.

We like ourselves, and we naturally want to be first.

We want to be noticed.

We want to be applauded.

Humility, on the other hand, is not natural.

Humility is something that is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit.

I do love when I watch the end of the game, and I mean, sometimes you want to know how good somebody is,

just at the end of a football game, interview them.

They'll tell you how good they are.

I mean, you know, I'm just faster, I'm better, I'm stronger.

Oh, yeah, I want to thank my teammates and my coaches, too.

But it's always, it's just out there, it just kind of creeps out.

But the Bible does call us to humility.

It calls us to, if we are following the Lord, to walk after him.

Micah told us, he has showed thee, O man, what is good.

And what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.

The Bible tells us, we're going to see it in Luke 14, he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

The book of James reminds us that we are to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift thee up.

We want to be lifted up, but there's a way that that comes about, and humility,

while it might be alien to our fallen, to the way that we live, it's essential to our Christian walk.

But just because it's essential doesn't mean that we do it all the time.

And as we come to our text, that's kind of the rub that we see here.

Is it really, as we've looked over the last few weeks, Jesus is really from this moment on,

and especially in verse 51, his face is set towards Jerusalem.

He came for the cross of Calvary.

He's always known this.

In fact, before the foundation of the world, there was a lamb that was slain.

Jesus, the cross did not catch him by surprise, but at this moment in history, he's really moving towards it now.

And he's starting to lay these things out and tell the disciples things like,

hey, the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of the Pharisees, he's going to be killed.

And they're thinking, nope, we're not doing that.

And he tells them, if you want to follow me, here's what it's going to look like.

You're going to have to take up your cross daily.

You're going to have to deny yourself, and you're going to have to come after me.

And what's taking place there is they're struggling with that because that's not the plan they signed up for.

When they kind of got wind of who this Jesus was, they're thinking, I'll follow that guy because I can see great things in my future.

If this man can do these things, if he can cause all these fish to come in the boat,

he can feed these people and heal these people.

Well, I'm all in on that.

I mean, if he can do this, no doubt he can overthrow Rome.

That's kind of where the disciples were.

And they thought greatness, much like we think today, is about being recognized.

That they would walk through the streets of Capernaum.

They would walk through the streets of Jerusalem.

Why did you, that's Peter over there.

Yeah, it's me, I'm Peter.

I'm the leader over here, guys.

And they were struggling.

Many of these men were probably late teens, early 20s.

They were craving that.

But Luke 9 and these passages we looked at was a shock to their system.

Jesus predicting his death.

Really, the disciples couldn't even comprehend it.

They were still picturing this earthly kingdom.

They had visions of thrones and crowns and power and prestige.

And they were thinking, man, I remember that guy in school making fun of me for being a fisherman.

Watch this.

That's where they were.

That's what they wanted.

And that's what they kept striving after.

And so right after Jesus speaks about a cross,

right after Jesus is showing them that what's going to take place,

and he's telling them, you're going to suffer too.

Instead of dwelling on that, they start arguing about who's the greatest.

They start worrying about, hey, I'm the goat.

Peter said, listen, everybody knows this, guys.

I'm the greatest disciple of all time.

I'm the leader.

I'm the one that's going to say things.

You remember when I said, thou art the Christ?

That was me.

You don't read your Bible like this?

The disciples were trash talking with each other.

They were excited about their possibility of being there

because that's what's taking place in verse 46.

Then there arose a reasoning among them,

which of them should be the greatest?

You remember just a few weeks back,

Peter, James, and John were on the mountain of transfiguration.

They saw Jesus kind of pull back his humanity and saw his divinity,

and yet they're still arguing about who's the greatest.

That's a picture into our heart and our mindset as human beings

because really all the things he's been saying,

Jesus is talking about humility,

and they're focused on the hierarchy.

That's where their mind is.

Jesus came not to be ministered unto,

but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many.

Jesus is talking about serving one another

and loving one another and suffering for others,

and they're focused on status.

Well, I just want to at least be in the top three.

And James and John thinking,

we already got that covered.

Sorry, Bartholomew.

You know, it's Peter, James, and John.

Everybody knows that.

But before we're too hard on them,

I think we need to stop and look in the mirror

and realize we do the same things often.

That we do compare ourselves one with another.

We can come and we can say,

well, at least I'm better than so-and-so.

I mean, you know, I can do better than them.

I mean, we have all these things.

We compete with one another.

We crave importance.

And Jesus knew this was taking place.

So what he does is he kind of sets his disciples down,

and he shows them.

And he shows us what true greatness looks like.

He lays out the road map to it.

He said, this is the road you have to walk

to really experience greatness.

Because if we follow the world's definition of greatness,

we're going to be frustrated.

We're going to be just beat up.

We're going to be so upset.

We're going to realize this.

It's empty.

Solomon told us in the book of Ecclesiastes,

he sought everything the world had to offer,

and here's what he found out.

It was worth nothing.

It was vanity of vanities.

Emptiness of emptiness.

And the disciples are seeking and searching for that.

And Jesus says, here's where true greatness comes from.

Humility.

That's where it's found.

And he wanted the disciples,

and he wants us to see a few things,

and we're going to walk through this text here.

I think, number one, he wants us to see this,

that humble disciples value insignificant people

in serving Jesus.

Humble disciples value insignificant people.

You know, I've been married long enough now

where I just think things,

and she looks at me and just says, no.

I can't have any fun.

I can't do anything I want to do.

She just knows everything that's going on in my brain,

it's not fair.

And I just, but I'm like, but come on.

No.

You know, anybody like that?

Any people in that situation?

I mean, you just kind of get that look on your face,

and no, we're not doing that.

The disciples, they're kind of reasoning among themselves.

They're not arguing out loud in front of Jesus.

You know, maybe they're over in the corner,

and Jesus said, hey, what y'all talking about over there?

But he knows their heart,

and that's what the Bible says,

that he begins to, he reads their heart.

They hadn't really said a word in front of him,

but he knew their thoughts,

and here's what he found.

They were full of pride.

And he calls them out.

Not like we would, like, hey, stop doing that, John.

No, he says, hey, guys, come here.

I want to tell y'all something.

I want to teach y'all a lesson.

Everybody come here.

Verse number 47,

And Jesus, perceiving their thought,

the thought of their heart,

took a child and set him by him.

Maybe this was one of the disciples' kids.

You know, they would travel maybe in a group,

and maybe it was one of their children.

He came and said, hey, why don't you come sit down next to me?

Why don't you come hang out with me real quick?

And he's there, and with that simple gesture,

we can kind of read over and say,

okay, well, you know,

Jesus loves the little children of the world.

We know that song.

Everybody knows that song.

But with this simple gesture,

here's what Jesus is doing,

redefining what greatness looks like.

You know, because in our day,

children are celebrated, and they should be.

Children are a wonderful, beautiful gift from the Lord.

Lord, sometimes I have to remind myself of that.

You know, we went down and saw my parents

and were on a road trip.

You know, road trips just bring the best and worst

out of families.

Like, I'm going to pull this car over.

I'm the only person that's ever threatened to pull the car over.

No, I didn't think so.

But we celebrate our children.

We love our children.

But in the world of the first century,

children were way down the rung of the ladder.

I mean, they had no rights.

They had no rank.

They had no reputation.

And since they were dependent,

they were powerless,

and they were viewed as insignificant.

Many of the, even Jewish leaders of the day,

they would have thoughts that,

hey, don't waste your time with kids.

They have nothing to offer you.

They're not going to help you in your business.

They're not going to help you move forward.

So, hey, there's nothing that they need from you.

Don't waste your time.

So by Jesus bringing this little child up

and setting him next to him,

you know, because they wanted,

here's the problem,

Peter wanted to sit there.

James and John wanted to be on the right and left hand.

He said, you know what?

I got somebody that can take this spot.

Why don't you come here?

Brings this little kid and sets him next to him.

And what he's doing is he is shattering

their value system.

Because in their heart, they're arguing.

In their heart, they're saying,

I want to be great.

And as Jesus is sitting next to him,

he says, you want to be great?

This is what it looks like.

This little kid.

And they're thinking, what?

A kid?

What can he do?

He doesn't even have a bank account.

He doesn't even have a job.

You know, he's always bugging me.

What are we going to have for lunch?

Like kids do.

And husbands do too sometimes.

I hope it's good.

But I want us to really understand what he's saying.

Jesus is teaching us this.

To welcome the least

is to welcome the Lord.

To serve the small

is to serve the Savior.

This took everything that they had been taught,

everything their society says,

this is what greatness looks like.

And he turns it on its head.

And he tells them,

greatness is measured by service,

not status.

That in this simple, single act

of just bringing a child next to him,

that he turned their world upside down

and flipped the definition of greatness.

That this is what it looks like.

As a follower of Christ,

serving others,

serving the insignificant

is what greatness really does.

So what does it look like today in our life?

How does it look like

in your walk with the Lord?

Maybe it's at home,

as a parent,

serving your children in love

is greatness.

Now yes,

there's a hierarchy

and there isn't a

order that God has set it up in.

But listen,

we are to love our children.

We are to train them up

in the nurture

and the admonition of the Lord.

That they're not our servants.

That they're not there

just to give us what we want

and hey,

give them something

just to get them out of our hair.

But on the other side,

kids,

teens that are in here,

you know what it looks like?

It looks like honoring your parents.

Obeying your parents.

That's what God has called us to do.

Because I know you know this sometimes,

sometimes your parents

have no idea what they're doing.

Just pray for them.

They need it, okay?

They're trying the best they can.

But there should be that mutual love

and respect

that we're to serve each other.

That we're not to prefer others above.

No,

that we're to look at ourselves

and say,

Lord,

how can I be a help?

Maybe at work,

are you the person

that's known for helping others

or known for stepping on them

to get to the next level?

It looks like service.

That God calls us to that.

Maybe at church,

the question we need to ask ourselves

is,

are we a participant

or just a spectator?

I'm thankful everybody is here this morning.

But God calls us into the church family

to serve one another.

That we're not just to come

and get and get and get and get.

I hope you get something.

I hope you get something from the message.

I hope you get something from the songs.

I hope you got something

from the Sunday school hour.

I know you got the donuts.

And there's certain things

you should get.

But when you come into the church,

are you looking,

what can I get?

Or what can I do?

How can I serve?

How can I show others

the love of Christ in this place?

You know,

sometimes it's areas

that you don't want to be.

You know,

I'm so thankful

that we have people

that greet you when you walk in

that smile.

Maybe you could do that.

You think,

what can I do in the church?

Maybe be a greeter

and just show up and smile

and say,

hey, we're glad you're here.

If you don't smile,

don't sign up for that.

I'm thankful

for our nursery workers.

I'm so thankful for them.

I'm thankful

for our Sunday school teachers.

I'm thankful

for our children's church workers.

I'm thankful

for those that are willing

to drive a bus

and to do the things

and come a little bit earlier

and stay a little bit later.

Why?

So people can hear the gospel.

That's what it's about.

That's what it is.

I'm thankful for those

that take time

and effort

and clean

and mow the yard

and all the things around her

so when you show up on Sunday,

hey, it looks like,

hey, we take care of this place.

Those are important things

and God calls us all.

It's simple things.

Sometimes we think ministry

is standing behind a pulpit.

No, it's just serving people.

How do you view people

in your world

that you come across

every day of the week

as interruptions

or invitations

to love them like Jesus?

Because you're going to run

into somebody tomorrow

and you're going to think,

man, I wish they would

just leave me alone.

I'm trying to get my work done.

Maybe God keeps allowing them

to interrupt you

because they just need to be loved.

Maybe you can just serve

in that aspect

because Jesus says,

that's what greatness looks like.

For he that is least among you all,

the same shall be great.

That's what he is calling us to do.

And see, Jesus' example,

I can imagine they're kind of

looking around thinking like,

oh my goodness.

Like, how did he know?

How did he know

we were talking about this?

And he kind of silences

their argument.

But I'm sure you found out

in your own life,

as I have,

that pride doesn't die easily.

It likes to rear its ugly head.

I think, okay, okay.

I'll serve people better.

I'll serve them.

And you know,

I'm going to do my very best,

but what about these people

over here?

This is what John

kind of brings up

there in verse number 49.

Kind of like right on cue.

Because there's another kind of pride

that we deal with,

not just that we think

of ourselves higher

and that maybe we shouldn't serve,

but this spiritual superiority.

That's a deadly type of pride.

That, hey, you know,

I go to this church

and I've been saved this long

and we wouldn't maybe

say that out loud,

but sometimes we deal

with it in our heart.

Like, man,

I wish they'd just get

their act together

like I have.

We'll just move right along.

But here's the thought,

that humble disciples,

number two,

appreciate others

who serve Jesus.

So humble disciples,

they value those

that are the world

consider insignificant

because we all are,

by the way.

That none of us

are significant

to be honored by Jesus.

No, he came and he loved us

despite who we are.

But John, I love John.

I bet John thinks

he sounds so spiritual.

Verse number 49,

he comes and says,

and John answered

and said,

Master,

we saw one casting out

devils in thy name

and we forbade him

because he follows not with us.

He comes up

and he said,

Jesus,

I just want you to know,

yes,

we're going to serve

other people,

but we had some jokers

over there in the other town.

They were trying to serve you

and they're not one of us.

So I told him,

don't even think about it.

That's what he's saying.

You know,

and John's so happy

and he's popping his lapel

and he's very excited

about what God

has called him to do

and don't forget

that the disciples

just a few verses ago

failed miserably

to cast the devil out.

You know,

it's easy to see

others' problem

and miss our own.

But have you ever noticed

how envy hides behind

discernment sometimes?

We criticize others

to make ourselves

feel righteous?

John's got his chest

all puffed out

and Jesus said,

man,

forbid him not.

Like,

he's doing a great work.

He's doing a great job

and Jesus said,

for he that is not

against us

is for us.

In other words,

here's what Jesus is saying.

Don't stop someone

from doing good

in my name

just because they're not

in your group.

That's what he's saying.

Listen,

this kingdom,

God's kingdom

is bigger than

our circle,

our style,

our label.

It is.

I know it's hard

sometimes to think that

and that's what Jesus says,

that they're not against us,

they're not for us.

True greatness

does not compete.

It celebrates,

it rejoices

when Christ is glorified

no matter

who gets the credit.

that's what Jesus

is teaching us.

That's what Jesus

is reminding us.

The apostle Paul

gives us a great

biblical example of this.

In Philippians chapter

number one

and the church

at Philippi

and others

were worried

that people

were kind of

piggybacking off Paul

and they were glad

he was in prison

because they finally

got to be the preacher

and they finally

got to preach

the gospel.

Paul could have said,

you're not the apostle Paul,

what are you doing?

You know what he said?

He said,

I'm thankful

the gospel's going forward.

I'm thankful

somebody's hearing the truth.

He said,

whether in pretense

or in truth,

Christ is preached

and therein

do I rejoice.

That's what Paul

was about.

He didn't care

who got the applause,

he cared

that Christ

got the glory.

That's what God

has called us to do.

God didn't call us

to build our kingdom.

God didn't call us

to build the Central Baptist

Church kingdom

of Gainesville, Texas.

No, he called us

to build his kingdom.

But there are other churches

in this county

and in this city

that preach the gospel

of Christ

and here's what we should say,

praise the Lord.

Because I'm looking out,

yeah,

all of Gainesville

is not in here.

We're not the only church.

We're not the only church

that preaches the gospel

and we need to have

that kingdom-minded humility.

That we,

even towards other churches,

we need that,

we're not competitors,

we're co-laborers.

I love this thought,

we can be brothers

and not twins.

That's okay.

That's okay.

That's what Jesus is saying

toward other believers.

We don't,

we need to stop comparing gifts

and start celebrating

the grace that God

has given us the gifts.

Paul deals with this later.

Not everybody in this church

has the same gift.

You know,

some of you are encouragers.

You should be greeters.

Some of you are just

truth tellers.

You don't need to be a greeter.

You wore that today?

Oh man,

come on in.

I'm just saying.

We can't say,

well they get to get up here

and they get up here

and they do this

and they sing.

Listen,

God gave them the ability

to sing.

Some of you

sing a joyful noise

in the Lord.

I get it.

I do.

But sometimes we get so worried

and we're so focused

on comparing one another

that we don't realize,

hey,

the gospel's going forward

and we miss it

and we're not excited

about it.

How does it come

towards differing ministries?

I just want to say this,

if they preach the gospel,

praise God.

Don't misunderstand

what I'm saying.

Appreciation doesn't mean

compromise.

It doesn't.

It means humility.

Because there's others

that we may not agree with.

But God didn't call us

to make that known.

You know what God

called us to do?

Just run the race

He's called us to.

To appreciate the others

that are there

in doing the work of Christ.

So Jesus is teaching here

that greatness

looks like humility.

It values others

that,

it values people

that others overlook.

It appreciates the people

that others envy.

But He has one final layer.

And really we find it

in Mark chapter 9

Mark 9 · chapter mention

and Matthew chapter 18.

Matthew 18 · chapter mention

The synoptic gospels

that men's this,

when you hear that word,

they're to be seen together.

Because sometimes

each gospel writer,

they take different lenses,

but especially in Mark's

account of this text,

Jesus reminds us of this,

that humble disciples

remove anything

that hinders them

from serving Jesus.

And that's what He does.

If you have your Bible there,

why don't you flip over

to Mark chapter 9.

Mark 9 · chapter mention

We'll read just a couple

verses here.

It's in the same context,

it's in the same story

as He's brought

these children here

and He's kind of laying out

what humility looks like.

And Jesus kind of shifts

from this illustration

that this is what humility

looks like,

this is how it serves,

this is what it does,

it appreciates.

And He gives a very stern warning.

He shows that humility

isn't soft.

Sometimes we look at humility

and meekness and we think,

the world's going to walk

all over us.

No, it's a very serious thing.

Jesus was humble.

He was, you know,

Jesus describes Himself

one time,

He is meek and lowly.

Meekness does not mean weakness.

Moses, the Bible says,

Moses was the meekest man

on the earth.

You think Moses was a pushover?

You read the Exodus,

you read what he did

and the millions of complainers

that he dealt with.

I think he knew what he was doing

and he was trusting the Lord.

Notice what the Bible says

in Mark chapter 9,

Mark 9 · chapter mention

verse number 42.

And whosoever shall offend

one of these little ones

that believeth in me,

it is better for him

that a millstone

were hanged about his neck

and he were cast into the sea.

Sometimes we read these verses

and think,

what is Jesus talking about?

He wants us to understand this,

that the little ones

are not just children per se,

not just young children,

but all of those

that are vulnerable,

young and vulnerable believers.

That sometimes we,

sometimes we've been saved

a long time,

we've been serving Jesus

a long time,

that we think,

man, what is their problem?

You know what he's reminding us?

We used to be there too.

And sometimes we might have

grown in our faith

in some things

that we were very staunch on

and very just matter of fact

and dogmatic about.

It's okay to have preferences,

it's okay to have

some of these things,

but we can get so hung up

and say,

well, if that offends them,

then that's their problem.

You know what we have to do sometimes?

Sometimes we have to set aside

our pride and our preferences

and our certain kind of things

that we like to do

for the good of the kingdom,

for the good of the gospel.

You can do whatever you want.

All things are lawful,

Paul says,

but it doesn't mean

everything's good to do.

It doesn't mean it's always

something we can do there.

And here's what Jesus

is saying in this verse.

Don't be the reason

somebody trips up.

You say,

well, it's not my problem

they're doing that.

But maybe you're the one

that God's placed in their life.

And maybe they come

and they're looking at you

at work.

They're looking at you

in the church

and how you do things

and how you serve

and they're thinking,

well, why does he do that?

You know,

well, I don't think

that's what should be

taking place.

And Jesus is reminding us

that our life

should lift people up,

not trip them up.

That's why a follower of Christ,

we're to be the light,

we're to be the salt,

we're to bring others to him.

And not stick our foot out

so they trip over and say,

what's your problem, man?

That's what Jesus is saying.

See, his warning is severe.

But he takes it a step farther

in that next verse.

Verse 43 of Mark 9.

And thy hand offend thee,

cut it off.

It is better for thee

to enter into life maimed

than having two hands

to go into hell

and to the fire

that shall never be quenched.

Where the worm dieth not

and the fire is not quenched.

Verse 45,

and a knife foot offend thee,

cut it off.

Verse 47,

and a knife eye offend thee,

pluck it out.

What is Jesus saying here?

Listen, he's not calling

for literal amputation.

You know what he's saying

the disciples do,

humble disciples?

He's calling them

to radical repentance.

That if something causes you

or something causes others

to stumble,

get rid of it.

That's what Jesus is saying.

If your hand,

what you do offends

other people,

here's what Jesus says,

stop it.

It's not worth it.

If your foot,

where you go

and where you visit,

if it offends,

avoid it.

If your eye,

what you watch

and what you desire,

if it offends others,

turn from it.

He's saying if there's an issue

and it's causing others

to stumble,

it's not worth it.

Don't try to patch it up.

If you walked in your house

and there's black mold

everywhere,

say, let's get the air freshener out.

If you find it in your house

and you know what you do,

rip it out.

Because it's not healthy.

It's deadly.

And Jesus is saying,

listen,

a disciple,

a true follower of Christ

is not living for the here and now.

It's not living for the crowns

and the power

and the prestige

this world has to offer.

No,

humble disciples live for eternity.

That's the goal.

Listen,

we're living,

God has called us

to make heaven crowded.

That we are the ones

that call others

to who he is.

And that's what he says.

It's better to enter into life

maimed

than have two hands

and go into hell.

That it's better

to lose temporary comfort

than eternal life.

And a true,

humble disciple of Christ

values eternal reward

over earthly reputation.

And Jesus is trying

to weed this out

of the disciples

because guess what's

in our heart and our mind?

We want prestige.

Is it really worth

that co-worker,

that family member,

that church member

to miss heaven

because they were so focused

on how you lived

and you weren't pointing to Jesus,

you were pointing to yourself.

Jesus didn't call us

to bring disciples to us.

He called us

to bring it to him.

That's what he's showing here.

Humble disciples,

they live for eternity

and they live salty lives.

Verse number 49,

For everyone shall be salted

with fire

and every sacrifice

shall be salted with salt.

Salt is good.

Some of you,

that's your life verse right there.

Especially Brother Garrett.

He likes salt.

But,

if the salt

hath lost

his saltiness,

wherewith

will ye season it?

Have salt

in yourselves

and have peace

one with

another.

Listen,

salt,

it preserves

purity.

It preserves

peace.

And Jesus

calls us

to be a

preservative,

not a pollutant

to the world

around us.

Is your life,

are you living a life,

you know,

salt creates thirst.

Is your life,

the way you live for Christ,

is it causing somebody else

to thirst

for him?

Or,

if you're living so much

for yourself

that it's just kind of like,

oh man,

you've been around somebody

that kind of thinks

very highly of themselves,

it's very off-putting,

isn't it?

Like,

man,

he likes himself.

You don't want to be around

people like that.

Jesus says,

like,

when people are around us,

it should be salty.

It should point others

to him.

That's what he calls us

to live like.

Just some practical examples.

Where all,

a lot of us are on social media.

Maybe you should ask yourself this,

right before you're about

to send something,

post something.

Will this post draw people

to Christ

or push them away?

That's a good question

to ask.

Because just because

you can type it

and just because you can't

send it

doesn't mean you should.

At work,

will this conversation

you're going to have

around the water cooler,

will it honor Christ

or will it bring

reproach to his name?

Because it's easy

just to get caught up

in the conversation.

At home,

will your children

see Jesus

and your patience

and your priorities?

Listen,

we all fail,

but we should be striving

for our children

to see who Jesus

really is.

At church,

will my words

build unity

or stir division?

If any of those things,

if we're thinking,

hey,

get rid of it.

Ask the Lord

to help you.

See,

humble disciples

say this,

if it causes another

to stumble,

I'll lay it down.

Because you know

what true greatness does?

It's going to cost you

something.

Jesus is going to

lay it all out

next week.

If you're going to

follow me,

this is what it's

going to look like.

You're going to

follow him wherever

and whenever

and whatever

he asks you to do.

And sometimes

it's going to be hard.

See,

Jesus didn't call us

to be the greatest

of all time.

You know who he called

us to be like?

Him.

A suffering servant.

That's what Jesus was.

See,

true greatness

is not about

applause or recognition.

It's about humility

and obedience

and love.

Greatness is

walking the path

that Jesus walked.

How do you find

greatness?

You have to descend

to it.

The way up

in the Christian life

is actually down.

That's what

Philippians chapter 2

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

is all about.

Read it.

That Jesus descended

to us.

And that greatness

has found the same

path that Jesus took.

And I just want to

remind you,

if you know Christ

as your Savior,

that he calls you

to that same

type of service.

And I ask you this

as we close.

What is the Holy Spirit

speaking to you about?

What is he calling you to?

Maybe he's revealed

an area of pride

that needs confession.

An attitude

that maybe in our minds

says,

I deserve that.

Instead of,

Lord,

what would you have me

to do here?

How can I serve others?

Perhaps you failed

to value someone

the way Jesus does.

Aren't you thankful

Jesus values you?

He loves you.

Do you value people

the same way?

Maybe you've been

comparing your ministry

and you've been

craving recognition.

You've been

clutching something

that's a stumbling block.

If you belong to Christ,

the question is not,

will I be great?

The question is,

will I be humble?

That's what he calls

believers to.

Right now,

I think we should all

ask the Lord,

Lord,

would you help me

live that kind of life?

Would you help me

live a life that values

the people others overlook?

Would you help me

live a life that appreciates

the people God is using?

Would you help me

live a life that removes

anything that hinders

others from seeing

Jesus in me?

What he's called us to do?

That's what true

greatness looks like.

Maybe you're here

and you're just not sure

where you stand with Jesus.

You love him.

You enjoy the songs.

You want to follow him

and you've been searching

for meaning and truth

and peace.

You've tried everything

the world says.

Hey, do this

and you'll be great.

But you found this

to be true.

You're empty handed.

Because the world

has nothing to offer.

It's just going to fade away.

It's not lasting.

And I just want to remind you

here this morning

of That's You

that the greatest act

in history

wasn't performed

in a stadium.

It wasn't performed

on a stage.

It was performed

on the cross of Calvary.

The Son of God,

the only great one,

the true great one,

humbled himself

and took our sin

upon himself

and he died

in our place

so that we might

be forgiven.

The Bible tells us

in Romans 5,

but God commendeth

his love toward us

in that while we were

yet sinners,

Christ died for us.

That's why he came.

That's what he's teaching

his disciples.

This is what it looks like.

But he's not on that cross

anymore and he's not

in that tomb

because three days later

he walked out alive,

proving that death

and sin

are defeated forever

and he offers

that life to you,

not rules,

not religion,

but a relationship

with the creator

himself.

That's where

greatness is found.

I see these things online,

who's the most famous

person in your phone

and these people,

oh yeah, yeah.

Listen,

you realize you have

a direct connection

to the God

of the universe?

That he knows your name,

that he loves you,

that he cares about

what's going on?

That problem in your life

right now,

he wants to help

with it.

And here's the beautiful

thing,

you can come as you are,

broken and burdened

and beaten down

and in need of grace

and he'll meet you there.

You don't have to

clean yourself up.

No,

he's running towards you.

Would you come to him

today?

Would you turn to him

from,

turn from your sin

and turn to him?

My time is up

but I just want to say

this church,

may we be the people

who walk the road

that Jesus walked.

because the world

is saying,

you want your life

to mean something,

do this,

go here,

take this job.

No.

Follow me

is what Jesus says.

Would we be

those kind of people?

Would we be

the kind of people

that serve

when it's inconvenient?

That love

when it's undeserved?

That surrender

when it costs us something?

Because he humbled himself

and became obedient

to death,

even the death

of the cross.

that's the road

to true greatness.

It begins with humility.

It leads to the cross

and it ends

in glory

with Christ.

That one day

we're going to stand

before him

and I want to hear

well done

thou good

and faithful servant.

You know how you hear that?

You walk the road

Jesus called you to.

Not the road

the world is calling us to.

That's what true greatness

looks like.

Would you stand

with your heads bowed

and your eyes closed?

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