Losers Like UsSýnishorn

The Ambitious Grandstanders

All my life I felt at a disadvantage. I actually believed that, in order to be on a level playing field with others, I had to one-up them. So I pushed myself academically. And somewhere in my journey, I think I started to believe that the world’s most highly educated people were a sort of presidential cabinet for God. I think I imagined that as soon as I had my PhD, God was going to come to me and ask, “Dan, what do you think I should do now?”

When a sports figure plays to the crowd in the stands, it’s called grandstanding—ambitiously trying to outshine one’s teammates, instead of supporting and helping them. I’m not an athlete, but in my academic pursuits I think I fell into this trap a little bit.

The world loves grandstanding, but in God’s kingdom such selfish ambition is a loser trait.

Two of Jesus’ closest disciples, the brothers James and John, exhibit this trait. Their competitive ambition might have come from their mom. She seems to be behind a request for greatness which is attributed to James and John in Mark 10:35-37, but to her in Matthew 20:21. The request is for Jesus to give James and John the positions of honor on either side of him when he establishes his kingdom. This request angers the other disciples (Matthew 20:24, Mark 10:41) because they recognize it as grandstanding, but Jesus tells them all to stop competing and learn to serve another instead (Matthew 20:25-28, Mark 10:42-45).

Later the brothers again try to make a grand play. After a rejection from the Samaritans, they ask Jesus, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” (Luke 9:54, NIV) Their precedent is the Old Testament story of Elijah, who bested 850 false prophets by requesting and receiving heavenly fire to consume his water-soaked offering to the Lord. However, James and John are missing a key point. Elijah’s fire consumed only the sacrifice, not the people (1 Kings 18:19-40). Jesus affirms this point by rebuking the brothers’ vindictiveness (Luke 9:55).

John also tries to stop someone from driving out demons in Jesus’ name because “he is not one of us” (Luke 9:49, NIV). See the ambition, the “me first” exclusivity? More grandstanding. But in gracious correction, Jesus says not to prevent others from working in his name (v. 50).

Grandstanding has no place in spiritual pursuits, because Christ-followers are called not to be exalted above others but to be subjected under God. We must stop being self-centered losers asserting our own will, and start being God-centered losers yielding (losing) our will to his.