I remember a lecture given by a guy named Tommy Amaker. Most likely you have never heard of him. Currently men’s basketball coach at Harvard. At the time of the Lecture I attended he was playing for Duke University.
Tommy was an exceptional basketball player. He was sharing how he achieved his skill. How did he become great? Time in the gym.
He said, “When everyone was at the Friday night football game in High School, he was in the gym playing basketball: dribbling, shooting, running.”
In his words, “It is what you do when no one is watching.”
How would you define being great? Is it something you think about?
Philosophically Plato defined being a great person as not being driven by personal desires but by a love for what is just and good.
Socrates defined it as the cultivation of virtue through wisdom and self-knowledge.
Descartes, the highest form of human greatness is a virtue he calls generosity
How about more recently, Jordan Peterson said greatness is a combination of disciplined, voluntary sacrifice, pursuing what is meaningful, that looks out for the moral good of self and society.
Even though I would consider only one of these I have quoted is an actual Christ follower, there are bits and pieces of truth in all of these ideas.
Jesus, with authority, said it best. “Whoever wants to be great must be a servant. . .just as I have come not to be served but to serve and give my life for many” Matthew 20
It is the call of the Christ follower to see Christ’s example and copy it.
Many years ago we had these bracelets that were popular that had WWJD What Would Jesus Do. It was a fashion statement but even more, it is the beginning of being great.
This is how you grow into greatness. Stop and consider, what would Jesus do.
S.D.G.