Whoever Wishes to Become Great

“Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:43-45)

I’m taking a class on the Gospel of Mark this semester, and this week our class discussed these verses. Admittedly, sometimes it seems as if the goal of seminary education is to blunt Jesus’ sayings and to train future pastors who are a bit more moderate than the One they serve. Let me explain.

When we came across these verses, there was talk about how important self-care is and that we wouldn’t be able to be true servants if we didn’t first take proper care of ourselves. This is common in the ELCA (the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America), which has a “wholeness wheel” to encourage balance and overall well-being. It seems to me that this is a capitulation to a worldliness that promotes an “enlightened self-interest” and a “do what’s best for yourself” attitude. This is not the way of self-denial to which Jesus call his followers.

If we consider the great history of saints, we’ll notice that they didn’t put proper self-care very high on their list of priorities. They wouldn’t be considered balanced people, and they would utterly fail the “wholeness wheel” standard. They weren’t balanced people, but they were godly people. Ultimately, this is infinitely more important.

Jesus is clear: His would-be followers are called to a life of self-denial. His call is to faith, hope, and love, and there’s a good chance that this won’t look very “balanced.” (Loving your enemies? Putting your ultimate trust in a promise that can’t be seen? That’s not very wise according to the world’s standards.) If personal well-being is our goal, then Deepak Chopra fits the bill. But if our goal is “the peace of God which surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7), then only Jesus will do.