Living Like Jay

Greatness in the eyes of God is not equated with power or possessions, but is determined by your heart toward Him and your willingness to serve.   In Mark 10, James and John brought their distorted view of greatness to Jesus:
35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, "Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask." 36 And He said to them, "What do you want Me to do for you?" 37 They said to Him, "Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory." After asking them if they would drink of the same cup as He, meaning His death and foreshadowing that they would also die a martyr's death, He said He could not grant that request.   The other disciples were not happy about this power play, and Jesus brought everything into focus:(43) whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. 44 And whoever of you desires to be first shall 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 a ransom for many."

The Scripture teaches that our ambition should not be greatness, but obedience - our desire should not be to call attention to ourselves or exalt ourselves, but to call attention to our great God and King.   We are called to pursue righteousness and holiness and to fall deeper in love with Him daily, and that will enable us to produce fruit to His honor.

In Luke 22, we see that there was a discussion among the disciples of Jesus about who should be considered to be great:
24 Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. 25 And He said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called 'benefactors.' 26 But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. 27 For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves.

With the new adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s great American novel, The Great Gatsby, the British website My Voucher Codes decided to take a deeper look into Jay Gatsby’s roaring 20′s life and, more specifically, his mind-boggling bank statement.  

The looked at the book, made a list of key elements of his lifestyle, and estimated how much they would cost in modern day dollars, converted to pounds, of course, at the end.  This includes:
The mansion: $10-15 million
The parties:  $50,000 each for 5 of them equals $250,000
The personal shopper: over $470,000 on fashion alone
The hired hands: $800,000
The fruit and champagne: $81,300

You also have the hydroplane, a Rolls Royce, 2 motorboats, and more...the total is $34,320,880!

Money made is shadowy activities, gained in order to impress a married woman.  What lack of meaning!   And, that would one of the many themes that make high school English teachers and students fond of this American classic from Montgomery's own.   The opulence does not equate to greatness - and so you conclude that the image of the "great" Jay Gatsby is a false and lifeless one, hardly what represents true greatness.

Jesus' disciples had an idea of greatness, too, and it wasn't a true picture, either.   Their concept had to do with power and recognition.   James and John asked the Lord for a prime spot at the throne of God.   In the moments before His crucifixion, when they really should be trying to grasp the gravity of the moment, they were caught up in a dispute over who would be the greatest.   This was just after His moving demonstration of the blood and the body, symbolized by the cup and the bread.

It just shows that despite our encounters with God, we can go away and still be prone to selfish ambition.   And, selfishness or pride do not produce the fruitful life that God desires and serve to block us in our spiritual growth.   We have to check our motives and realize that true greatness is not determined by how much we accumulate or what we achieve in the flesh, and our goal should be to be great in our development in Christ and bountiful in the amount of fruit we produce for Him.