TO GOD BE THE GLORY
“But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest.” — Mark 9:34
Few things are more hazardous to one’s spiritual health than the desire for self glory. Sometimes this sinful tendency is overt; I want the first place in line, the best fruit in the display, the most impressive house in the neighborhood, the “chief seat in the synagogue.” Sometimes it is more subtle as, for example, when someone else tells an attention getting story, and I have to chime in with my account of a similar incident. Ofttimes we do not even recognize the vanity that directs our behavior.
It was this tendency to egocentricity that snared Adam in the beginning and brought immeasurable tragedy to the human race, and the cross to the Son of God in His endeavor to remedy the tragic situation that resulted. It was the ground of the Satanic appeal when the adversary said to Eve, “God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods…” The tempter’s suggestion was, you can be more than you are, you can have more than you now possess, you can be first and greatest.
Life in this present evil world is essentially driven by this passion to “get ahead,” to “be somebody,” to obtain position and honor for ourselves. It drives the business world, fires the passion for “higher education,” and threatens to make one vulnerable to all kinds of evil. It is astonishing to find this unholy ambition fueling a passionate dialogue among the apostles who had now sojourned for a season with the Son of God. Or it would be were it not that we see so much of it in the churches of which we are a part, and among Christian workers aspiring to “a place in the sun.”
It is interesting to consider how much of New Testament teaching is directed against this flaw in human nature. Consider some representative passages:
“Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.” —Psalm 138:6
“…seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not:” —Jer. 45:5
“The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility.” —Prov. 15:33
“For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” —Luke 14:11, 18:14
“…Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:” - I Pet. 5:5
And there are many, many more.
The instruction is clear, and consistent. To these disciples the Savior taught, “…If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all (v. 35). Interestingly, this advances on a note sounded earlier in this chapter. Allowed the privilege of seeing a glimpse of the glory of the Son of God in the transfiguration, impulsive Peter had suggested, “Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.” (v. 5) The divine response to that suggestion was, “…a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves.” (v. 7-8, italics added)
The whole point is this: as believers we are not to be preoccupied with ourselves, nor with “man” in general. All that we are and all that we have that has any real worth is not ours, but His, bestowed upon us by His grace and for His glory. “Jesus only with themselves,” is all one needs. All the rest is in His hands, subject to His will and designed for HIS glory.
“Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee… For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another —[Isa. 48:10-11]. Nothing else matters this side of eternity.
If God chooses to use you in some service for Him, pursue your calling with humility. If He chooses to put you on “the back side of the desert,” be content with your role and glorify Him in your body and in your spirit, which are not yours, but His. “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's [I Cor. 6:20].”
"Pastor" Frasier
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