True Greatness

According to the recent manual with President Hunter’s teachings, he taught “that true greatness comes not from worldly success but from ‘thousands of little deeds … of service and sacrifice that constitute the giving, or losing, of one’s life for others and for the Lord’” and that “to do one’s best in the face of the commonplace struggles of life—and possibly in the face of failure—and to continue to endure and to persevere in the ongoing difficulties of life when those struggles and tasks contribute to others’ progress and happiness and one’s own eternal salvation—this is true greatness” (see here).  The way that the world defines greatness, according to President Hunter, is very different from the way that the Lord defines it.  The Lord looks at the thousands of little things that we do in our day to day lives, whereas the world only focuses on the big glamorous events to showcase those who are great in its eyes.  I think we see that particularly in the Sermon on the Mount that the Savior gave; those whom He called “blessed” were not those who had accomplished extraordinary deeds or reached any level of fame.  Rather, they are those who are very much unheralded by the world. 

                There are about ten times in the Nephite version of the Sermon on the Mount that the Lord called people “blessed”, and I think this shows what He considers to be true greatness.  From His perspective, as recorded in 3 Nephi 12, we are blessed if we “believe” in the words of the Twelve, are “poor in spirit” and “come unto [Him]”, “mourn”, are “meek”, “hunger and thirst after righteousness”, are “merciful”, are “pure in heart”, are “peacemakers”, are “persecuted for [His] name’s sake” (v2-10).  Thinking about how these attributes match up to current political candidates or the top sports stars or the richest entertainers I think would show that very few that make the headlines could qualify for many of these real attributes of greatness.  Further examination of the same chapter shows that Christ values a “broken heart and contrite spirit”, keeping His commandments, not getting angry, reconciling differences with others, having pure thoughts, being true to one’s word, turning the other cheek, giving to others, “[loving] your enemies”, and “doing good to them that hate you.”  Those are the things that make true greatness.  There is a book called “Good to Great” that talks about the world of business, but to paraphrase what I heard John S. Tanner once say, “to be good is greatness.”

                Of course in this, as always, Christ is our perfect example.  He was not “great” in any of the ways that the world would define it today, and yet He was the greatest to ever live because of His perfect goodness.  There’s a famous essay/sermon called One Solitary Life that summarizes the contrast so well:

“Here is a man who was born in an obscure village as the child of a peasant woman.  He grew up in another obscure village.  He worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty and then for three years was an itinerant preacher.  He never wrote a book.  He never held an office.  He never owned a home.  He never had a family.  He never went to college.  He never put his foot inside a big city.  He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where he was born.  He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness.  He had no credentials but himself.  He had nothing to do with this world except the naked power of his divine manhood.  While still a young man the tide of popular opinion turned against him.  His friends ran away.  One of them denied him.  Another betrayed him.  He was turned over to his enemies.  He went through the mockery of a trial.  He was nailed upon the cross between two thieves.  His executioners gambled for the only piece of property he had on earth while he was dying, and that was his coat.  When he was dead, he was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.  Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone and today he is the center of the human race and the leader of the column of progress.  I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that were ever built, and all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon the earth as powerfully as has this one solitary life.”

Our great challenge is to seek to be “great” in our own lives as He was, and not after the way the world would have us be.