Reading: Mark 9:33-50
Context: What prompts Jesus’ teaching about greatness and service in God’s kingdom?
The lads are quarrelling before they reach the crib. He asks them why they’re arguing. They keep shtum, as if you can do that with a man who knows. The nature of their quarrel is about who is the greatest. A typical argument among some who want to see themselves as the greatest. Jesus has to address this and show the upside-down nature of the Kingdom, where the greatest is the least, and the Father is seen in the treatment of children. The message is needed in today’s world as much as it was needed for the lads back in the day. We are still in a world where people grasp for and strive toward greatness. Their definition of greatness involves ego-feeding and aspiring to be magnified and glorified for massive achievements, as though we are so awesome in our own eyes. Jesus’ acts of service and His very humility in taking on the form of a regular bloke who won’t gain attention through status are a telling word of correction to what we think of as greatness.
What’s worth clocking here is the setting. They’ve just come down from the transfiguration, where Peter, James, and John saw Jesus in all His glory. They’ve also just heard Jesus speak about His coming death and resurrection — a conversation they clearly didn’t get. And yet what do they do? They argue about who’s the top dog. There’s something painfully human about that. When the deep stuff goes over our heads, we default to the shallow stuff — to rankings, to status, to who’s got the edge.
The message is needed in today’s world as much as it was needed for the lads back in the day. We are still in a world where people grasp for and strive toward greatness. Their definition of greatness involves ego-feeding and aspiring to be magnified and glorified for massive achievements, as though we are so awesome in our own eyes. You see it in boardrooms, you see it in social media timelines, and — let’s be real — you see it in churches too. The follower count, the platform size, the speaking invitations. Jesus’ acts of service and His very humility in taking on the form of a regular bloke who won’t gain attention through status are a telling word of correction to what we think of as greatness. He sat a child in their midst and said, this — this is what greatness looks like. Not the impressive stuff. The quiet, consistent, self-emptying stuff.
Content: How does Jesus use a child as an object lesson about kingdom values?
The child plays a cameo role but serves as the basis for our understanding of kingdom values. Firstly, are we welcoming children? Does our approach include engaging and interacting with a child to see if they can relate? Can we also take the form of a child in status in terms of humility and being in a position to learn to follow God in all things?
In the culture of the day, children had no social standing whatsoever. They weren’t seen as precious little individuals with rights and voices. They were at the bottom of the social pile — dependent, powerless, and largely invisible to those with important things to discuss. So when Jesus pulls a child into the centre of the conversation — literally into His arms — it’s a radical act. He’s not just making a sweet illustration. He’s flipping the whole value system on its head. The one with no status, no clout, no leverage? That’s the one the Kingdom revolves around. If you want to understand what God values, watch how you treat the people who can do absolutely nothing for you.
The child pops up again in verse 42 when considering if we impede children from having access to God, where such an act is tantamount to a trip to hell. The language Jesus uses there is striking — millstones and deep water. He’s not mincing His words. The child is crucial to us learning what the Kingdom of God is like and how we’ve got to leave our massive egos at the door, recognise others as more important —especially God — and then take on the form of a servant, even to the child, to allow him to gain access. The child becomes a living test of whether we’ve actually absorbed the Kingdom values Jesus is teaching, or whether we’re still running on the world’s operating system.
Concept: Jesus speaks about causing others to sin and removing stumbling blocks. What principle is He establishing?
The key principle established here is the sensitivity and awareness we should have of our attitudes. Unlike the scribes and Pharisees of the day, whose methods blocked people, Jesus instructs the disciples to see whether their attitudes encourage others to faith or lead them to sin. That’s about a heart of compassion and humility to others, that’s keen to point them to Christ rather than putting up roadblocks to Him through hypocrisy and legalism.
The vivid language Jesus uses about cutting off hands and gouging out eyes gets people uncomfortable — and rightly so. But the point isn’t literal self-mutilation. The point is the radical seriousness with which we should take our influence on others. If what we do, how we behave, what we prioritise, is causing someone else to stumble in their faith — that’s not a minor thing to be shrugged off. That’s a deal-with-it-urgently thing. The dramatic imagery is meant to shake us out of the comfortable assumption that our private attitudes and behaviours affect only us. They don’t. People are watching. Younger believers are watching. Seekers are watching. And what they see from us either draws them closer to Christ or gives them another reason to walk away.
It’s also about ensuring our behaviour doesn’t put people off Christ. These things go through ongoing checks in ourselves and the condition of our hearts, so we’re not deluding ourselves as we cause harm to others. That’s where the salt metaphor at the end of the passage comes in — salt that’s lost its flavour is useless. If our discipleship has become so shaped by ego and competition that it no longer carries the distinctive flavour of Christ, we’ve lost the plot. The regular heart check isn’t optional. It’s what keeps us from becoming the very roadblock we were warned against.
Conclusions: How do ambition and competition within Christian communities contradict the gospel message?
Ambition and competition reflect worldly standards and meanings of success. You are only great if you’re on top of others. You’re only great if you defeat others. You’re only great if you amass a reputation and draw greater and greater crowds to who you are, and you gotta know there are others who you’ve gotta be aware of and look to get one up on them.
The ugly truth is that Christian communities are not immune to this. The same competitive spirit that drives corporate rivalries can also drive church, ministry, and even personal rivalries among believers. When the measure of a ministry’s success is how big it’s grown compared to the one down the road, something has gone badly wrong. When a believer’s sense of worth is tied to how recognised their gifts are compared to someone else’s, we’re operating with the wrong scorecard entirely.
Ambition and competition don’t promote the heart of the gospel, which says we all need to accept that we’re nothing and only something because of Christ, and that, in being something through Christ, we’re called to serve and collaborate. Our measure of success is obedience that sees us keen to yield to others, supporting them in becoming everything God has called them to be. That approach would be crazy for ambitious, competitive types who always look for a leg up and an advantage over others. No, the way of Christ is keen to give others the leg up and the advantage so that they’re able to be seen, known, loved and able to thrive.
The gospel message has us acknowledge that Jesus – the creator of the universe – took on the form of a servant to the point of a cross for us. That’s the defining example of what true greatness looks like in action. When the disciples argued about who was greatest, Jesus didn’t just give them a lecture — He lived the answer right in front of them, and ultimately He would demonstrate it fully at Calvary. As a result, the way of the cross is the only way to success, and that requires us to take on the form of a servant.
Next time:
Episode Seventeen: Marriage, Children, and Wealth
Reading – Mark 10:1-31
The rule of God does not reflect the world’s standards of greatness. This requires us to pay attention to the teachings of Jesus. This is another reason to get the Word In so we can get the Word Out.
For His Name’s Sake
C. L. J. Dryden
Shalom
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