Secular ambition, sacred aspiration
Mark 10:35-45
35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
38 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”
39 “We can,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40 but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
41 When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
I see myself as a person who isn’t afraid to be a bit ambitious, but the actions of James and John would make me do the same thing that the rest of the apostles do in this section of scripture – I recon I’d be gobsmacked that anyone would have the tenacity to ask that kind of thing!
But interestingly, Jesus doesn’t just correct James and John, he uses this as a moment to teach all his disciples what leadership looks like in his upside-down kingdom. Jesus calls you and me to aspire to be able to serve others rather than to just have a high position. He calls us to be faithful to the needs of God and others rather than our own.
Lord, thank You that you affirm my ambition, and through your Word and the community of the church, You shape my desire for greatness into goodness in your kingdom.
Written by Ps Justin Ware