Several years ago, I pastored a church where there was a tremendous youth ministry program.  The program was based off of the scripture in John 14:12 which says:

“12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

Because the scripture quoted Jesus saying that as believers, we would do greater things than he did.  We believed that.  So, we titled the program, “I Am Made for Greatness.”  The entire church got behind the movement and each Sunday we would close our worship service affirming what we wanted to instill into the youth and ultimately, the entire congregation with these words:

“I am made for greatness; created in the image of God; motivated by the Spirit of God; consecrated by the blood of Jesus Christ; dedicated to the glory of his life; elevated by the love of God; celebrated by the joy of God; anticipated by the Kingdom of God; I am made for Greatness!

         However, we failed to connect our desire for greatness to a life of selfless service to Christ and others.  Even with all that we had been blessed with by God — greatness and service was never tied together as a single objective.  And while the ministry was successful, it fell apart because the harvest was plentiful, but the laborers were few.  The church had not fully captured — and the leadership had not clearly presented them with the image that greatness in the eyes of God is defined by our willingness to serve others.  It’s defined by the standard of selfless service to others which ultimately leads to and gives praise and honor to God.  Perhaps if we could all accept the central truth that joyful, selfless service determines our status in the Kingdom of God, we could set our goal to be the greatest serving each other in a way that glorifies God and Christ.

• How important is being a servant of God and Christ to you in your faith journey?
• What makes being in service to others difficult?
• What do we need to do individually and as a church to become the greatest servants of Christ?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Loving and merciful God, turn my heart away from desires for greatness through serving myself. Empower me to be the greatest servant through a life of loving, humble service to others to Your glory.

         American publisher and billionaire Malcome Forbes once said,  “Whoever dies with the most toys wins.”  It became a popular catchphrase in the 1980’s but seems to have infected a culture of people who seem to be more inclined to chase money than to chase what it means to be true to Christ.  And it’s not that being wealthy is a bad thing.  From a spiritual perspective, it’s about what we do with what we’ve been entrusted with.  It comes down to an integrity issue of trust and distrust — of faithfulness and the lack thereof.

         We’re currently living “real time” in the most corrupt culture in American history.  And that should not be a surprise. When people are given absolute power, then the old adage becomes true that, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This is what we’re experiencing today.  But again, it’s not that a person is wealthy and has much or poor and has little.  It’s what we do with that with which we’ve been entrusted.  The widow’s mite stands as a story in stark contrast to those who have more than they need but continue to steal from the poor to keep for themselves and proportionately give nothing in gratitude and thanksgiving.

         In contrast, our lives of faithfulness in being true to Christ should be a reflection of the One who was entrusted with everything and was faithful to God with all that he was entrusted with.  Being true to Christ is a challenge to live and serve as Christ lived and served.  Our choice will always be faithfulness to God or choosing the way of the word in which we live.  If the world lived an example of unconditional love, our choice would be simple.  But for now, we must choose faithfulness as our humble, yet bold attempt to live up to the image of Christ.

• What challenges do you experience in being true to Christ in our world today?
• What can we do to continue our faithfulness being true to Christ in a way that the word takes notice?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Merciful God, help me in all things to remain trustworthy with all you have given me. Lead and guide my paths that in all things I may be true to Christ.

         Love — the agape unconditional kind of love — is the stuff that songs have been written about.  Most of them have been written in praise of Christ for the church.  There have also been secular songs written and sung about love being the only thing the world needs and the power of love to change things.  It is spoken of as the primary and secondary commandment coming from God — that we should “Love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love our neighbors as ourselves.”  And yet, for all the songs that have been written and sung, for all the decrees that have come down from God and messaged to us by prophets and Christ, we seem to be unable to make manifest the love between us that God requires.  And yet, our failure to bear the fruit of love that God commands does say something about our faithfulness, doesn’t it.  If our main thing is to represent the image of Christ present in the world, serving God in faithfulness as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed, then it appears we have failed miserably at being faithful.  It appears so.  But isn’t it our faithfulness and our efforts to show the world God’s love that keeps Christ’s church alive?  Isn’t it our efforts to bring justice to our communities representative of Christ’s love to help the least of these God’s children?  And the truth is, none of that could happen if it weren’t for some of us living up to and into the image that Christ has set before the world.  And yes, we have some challenges.  But love still remains to strongest force on this earth.  And it is our faithfulness — sometimes challenged and sometimes weak — that continues to show the world that there are still some who are being true to Christ to the glory and praise of God.

• What do you believe makes it so difficult to be true to Christ and love others?
• What will it take for us individually and as a church to be more true to Christ in our ministry?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Loving God, lead us and guide us in our faithfulness to be true to Christ. Strengthen us to love others under the most difficult of circumstances as proof of our faithfulness to You.