The Greatest Among Us
Pastor Tim Spirk
“Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave — just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” — Matthew 20:26-28 NLT
The Kingdom of God is upside down.
Everything the world tells us about greatness — status, recognition, power, the corner office — Jesus flips completely. In Matthew 20, the mother of James and John comes to Jesus asking that her sons be given the seats of honor in His kingdom. The other disciples hear it and get irritated, probably because they wanted those seats too. And Jesus uses the moment to redefine what greatness actually looks like.
It looks like a servant. It looks like a slave. And it looks like Him.
What Serving Actually Means
The word translated “servant” in this passage carried real weight in the ancient world. It described someone who served with an excellent attitude and a high level of professionalism — someone so trustworthy and reliable that they were eventually placed in charge of managing an entire palace. A servant wasn’t someone who shuffled through tasks with their head down. They were faithful in the little things, and that faithfulness opened doors.
The word translated “slave” goes even further. It illustrates humility and selflessness at their deepest level — a bond-servant, someone who chose to remain in service even when freedom was available. Not because they had to, but because they wanted to.
Jesus was the supreme example of both. He served with the highest level of dedication, attention, and excellence — all the way to the point of sacrifice. He became one of us in order to reconcile us to God. And the night before His crucifixion, He got down on His knees and washed His disciples’ feet. Then He said, “I gave you an example, so that you also would do just as I did for you” (John 13:15 NASB).
The measure of our success isn’t how well we ruled. It’s how well we served.
The Motivation Behind the Ministry
In 1 Corinthians 16, Paul holds up Stephanas and his household as a model worth following. He says they were “spending their lives in service to God’s people” and that they served with such devotion it could be said they were addicted to it — with the highest standard of excellence and no need to be seen or recognized. They served unto God, not unto an audience.
The word Paul uses for “service” here is the same root word used for “minister” and “ministry.” Serving isn’t a lower rung on the ladder — it is the ministry. And Paul says their service brought encouragement, which in the original language means to give rest, to quiet, to refresh. When we serve others well, we bring them rest. We give them a moment to breathe.
Serving also does something in us. It expands us. It teaches us humility and sacrifice. It prepares us to be entrusted with more. And perhaps most significantly — when you serve someone, they get to encounter Jesus in you.
Serving Jesus by Serving Others
Colossians 3:23-24 makes something clear that’s easy to miss: when we serve, we aren’t ultimately serving people. We’re serving Jesus. Whatever the task — whether it’s running sound, greeting at the door, cooking a meal, or sitting with someone in a hard season — we do it heartily, from the soul, as something done for the Lord. The inheritance we receive comes from Him, not from whether anyone noticed.
And the gifts the Spirit has placed in us were never meant to stay with us. First Peter 4:10 says we’ve each received a special gift, and we’re called to employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the grace of God. Those gifts exist to edify others. A faithful servant is devoted to the interests and needs of those around them — delighting in the prosperity, honor, and happiness of someone besides themselves.
It was never about the task. It was always about the motivation of the heart.
The Kingdom of God is upside down — and in the best possible way. The greatest among us are the ones who serve. Not for recognition, not for reward, but because they’ve seen what Jesus did and they want to do the same.
