BUSTED! Ambition & Humility

"They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they remained silent. They had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest."

My daughter teaches in a Catholic middle school. Her students would say these disciples were, “BUSTED!”. They were caught in the act, red-handed, with their hands in the cookie jar, standing next to the broken vase, with the test answers written on their arms.

We have so many imaginative ways to describe that awkward situation. Many of them bring up images of children. Some of us might imagine ourselves as children; or maybe we imagine our own children.

When we get “caught” like that we often feel guilt or shame. Think of Adam and Eve in the Garden after eating the forbidden fruit. It really is built into our human nature.

How fitting it was, then, that Jesus brought a child into the group! These full-grown adult men had been acting like children. The childish men probably learned a lot just by seeing the child – like looking in a mirror.

We all want to feel good about ourselves, and about what we accomplish. That’s also built into our nature. There’s a very fine line between that desire and the sin of PRIDE. So, we have to be cautious and not go over that line. That’s especially true when we accomplish something good while doing God’s work. These men were arguing about exactly that, and they hadn’t even really started the work yet.

It’s worth considering a few other scriptural lines that relate to this theme:

“Without me, you can do nothing.”
“By the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace has not been fruitless.”
“I boast of nothing except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”

The virtue of humility is a powerful antidote for the vice of pride.

We all want to be great at something. That’s part of our God-given nature. It’s good when it’s used the way God planned it, meaning that we must stop it from going out of bounds, and turning into pride.

Then, too, sometimes we’re not happy being great; we have to be greater than someone else; sometimes we won’t stop until we’re greater than everyone else – then we’re the greatest – or at least we can claim to be.

Even as we live our lives of faith, we can feel the natural desire for greatness. The fallen and sinful side of our nature can misdirect that desire. Our fallen nature often lets us see competition where there could be cooperation. The devil will be glad to help us to see matters that way.

Regardless of what motivated the disciples to argue among themselves about who was the greatest, the fact remains that they did so. This was not the result of a holy and purified desire; it was the result of a good desire turned bad. That desire became distorted by the works of Satan and it was turned into an unholy competition based on pride, jealousy and selfishness.

Let’s pray:

Most glorious Lord, You are Greatness Itself. You are our eternal glory. I thank You for the natural desire for greatness that has been instilled within my soul. Please purify that desire. Help me to direct it toward holiness for me and for all Your people so that I will be able to store up in Heaven the many treasures You wish to bestow on me and on all people. Jesus, I trust in You.