You aint so great!

History is loaded with great people. Alexander the Great, King of Macedon, created one of the largest empires in world history... all before the age of 32. Herod the Great, King of Israel, is responsible for enormous building projects in and around Jerusalem. Many of his buildings still can be found today. Peter the Great, Tsar of the Russia, transformed Russia into a modern, western empire. And to throw in some equal time for women, Catherine the Great, Empress and Autocrat of all Russias, expanded the empire, improved its administration, and continues to modernize in the style of that other "Great" Russian leader.

Now of course that's not the whole story of good ol' Alexander, Herod, Peter, and Catherine. Alexander the Great had all his rivals killed in order to secure the throne and in his quest to conquer the world and spread Greek culture he killed thousands and conquered peoples from Greece to India. Herod the Great was a puppet king for Rome, enslaved his own people to work his building projects, killed members of his own family to protect his position, and according to Matthew murdered innocent boys in an attempt to kill Jesus. Peter the Great enacted sweeping reforms in Russia by brutally suppressing any opposition. He squashed rebellions throughout his Russian Empire by killing thousands. Catherine the Great ascended to power a half century after Peter's reign, but continued his policies of absolute power with no remorse. She famously said: "I shall be an autocrat, that's my trade; and the good Lord will forgive me, that's his."

These are the figures in history we call great? Is there something about getting kicked around that we thoroughly enjoy? With fear and admiration we look upon these bullies with some sense of awe. "Ahh, If only I could be like him," one might say. Another person will think "I better be on her side, or I'll be the next one she kicks." And so in our worldly way of pondering these things when someone reaches the point where they can kick and kill millions of people around they are somehow entitled to have the two words, "the Great," go after their name.

Jesus sure knew what he was talking about in Mark's Gospel. After James and John ask Jesus if they could be his right and left-hand men as Jesus steps up to the kind of greatness they expect from him, the rest of the Twelve are furious. They want to be at Jesus-the-Great's side. Jesus calls them out. He gives them a lesson about greatness. "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them." Hmmm... Yeah that describes Alexander the Great, Herod the Great, Peter the Great, and Catherine the Great.

"But it is not so among you..." Ahhhh... here's the lesson. It is not so among you. For followers of Jesus greatness is different. We are called to reject that natural instinct we have to both fear and admire the worst bully on the playground. Through the lens of the cross we see that killing millions of people does not make one great. Spreading influence and culture does not make one great. Through the lens of the cross Alexander, Herod, Peter, and Catherine are not great at all. They are bullies. They are murderers. They are sinners. They represent the worst the world has to offer... Jesus represents the best.

"But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all (Mark 10:43-44)." Alexander and his crew actually model the opposite of greatness. Greatness in the eyes of God comes through love and service. Greatness in the Kingdom of God is found through sacrifice and being selfless. The Emperors, Kings, Tsars, and Autocrats in history are nothing more than over glorified bullies. In many ways they are a human take on dinosaurs. Dinosaurs ruled the world for millions of years: a super-sized example of dog-eat-dog survival of the fittest to the extreme. Eat or be eaten. Kill or be killed.

The Kingdom of God, is different. It is not so among you. Christians are called to take a stand against the norm of greatness the world has lifted up for far too long. Only God is great, and out of his love for this fallen, dog-eat-dog world, he gave us his Son be the gate through which we see a new truth and new creation. We worship Christ who is our King. He isn't great because of the worldly power he exerted on others. He is great because he died on the cross for us. "For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45)."

Jesus is great because through his death, and resurrection, he exposes the greatness of Alexander, Herod, Peter, and Catherine as nothing but an impotent lie. Therefore "it is not so among you." Stop kicking yourself in the back. Stop lifting up rulers who only repay you with threats and force. Stop admiring the worst of them. A CEO who made billions cheating the people who work for him is not to be admired. A politician who cheats the people who elected him and then arrogantly insists he is untouchable is not a great man. An investor who swendles those who trust her and back stabs her way to the top should not be the plot for a great TV show.

It is not so among you. They are not great. They are dinosaurs. And their day of extinction is coming. "The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom of many." We worship the Lord and follow him through lives of service and love. Now that's GREAT!