What does it mean to be great?

This morning I've been working on the lesson plans for our church's youth ministry.
The topic is "What does it mean to be great?"

The fascinating thing is how much Scripture tells us about what it means to be great and offers a different perspective of life, leadership, and perhaps even leisure? The obvious Scriptures do come to mind - the story of Zebedee's sons wanting to be honored, Jesus washing the disciples' feet and sharing that He came not to be served - but to serve, Jesus reprimending Peter and instructing him to have a right perspective of life, and of course the 2nd Greatest Commandment to love one another.

But then there are the other stories and illustrations that capture our attention and explain in even greater detail what it means to be a leader as Christ was a leader, how to have a right perspective, and what leadership attributes/attitudes to avoid. There is the list of woes and corrections in Matthew 23 (practice what you preach, don't give others heavy burdens, honor others before yourself, don't grab the title, don't block the way to Jesus, don't set a hypocritical example and teach others to follow it, recognize the reason for worship, don't only give - but also practice justice/mercy/faithfulness, purify your inside before worrying about your appearance, and recognize prophets of today. And there is the different mindset of what it means to be blessed as seen in the Beatitudes listed in Matthew 5. Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who are persecuted because of righteousness, and you when you are insulted, persecuted, and falsly accused. We are instructed to rejoice in the midst of these such trials. And then in Luke 14 we are given a list of who we should invite to our parties. And who of course is included in this list(?) but those who cannot repay you the honor, the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. These are the people I want to invite to my wedding. Jesus didn't come to minister to the healthy, but to heal the sick. I want to follow His example.

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