The Greatest Among You

To my son, 

                Towards the end of His ministry, Jesus was approached by the mother of James and John who requested this: “Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.” The other ten apostles “were moved with indignation” because of the request, thinking that John and James were trying to get the top spot, so to speak, among the apostles. Jesus had to correct their attitudes with this teaching: “Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25-28). In this gospel reversal, Jesus emphasized that to be great in the eyes of God is the opposite of the how the world sees it; those who will be the greatest will be a servant. In the eyes of most people, those in the top of society are those who will have lots of money and pay others to do everything for them. But in the Savior’s eyes, it is those who serve who are the greatest. If we want to be like Him, we must learn to put others before ourselves and love like He did. Jesus was a King and a God before coming to earth, but He still descended below all things to serve us and ultimately save us through His atonement and death.

                Besides the Savior Himself, King Benjamin was one of the greatest examples of living this principle in the scriptures. He was king over all the Nephites and Mulekites, but he explained how he had acted towards them in these words: “I have been chosen by this people, and consecrated by my father, and was suffered by the hand of the Lord that I should be a ruler and a king over this people; and have been kept and preserved by his matchless power, to serve you with all the might, mind and strength which the Lord hath granted unto me. I say unto you that as I have been suffered to spend my days in your service, even up to this time, and have not sought gold nor silver nor any manner of riches of you;… And even I, myself, have labored with mine own hands that I might serve you, and that ye should not be laden with taxes, and that there should nothing come upon you which was grievous to be borne.” Even though he was the king, he served his people with his own hands “with all the might, mind and strength” that the Lord had given him. He did not view his position as king as giving him the right to live a carefree life supported by the labor of others; no, he saw his role as a servant to his people. He encouraged his people and us to do likewise and seek to serve those around us. He explained that ultimately, “when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” We are to “serve [God] with all [our] whole souls” and even then we will still be unprofitable servants (Mosiah 2:11-14, 17, 21). I hope that you and I can cultivate this attitude of service towards others and not see ourselves as better than anyone but always as their servants like King Benjamin was.

                I love a story that Elder Uchtdorf told showing the kind of attitude we should have, even if we seem to have a position of prominence or leadership. He related, “During the 150th anniversary of the pioneers’ arrival in the Salt Lake Valley, Brother Myron Richins was serving as a stake president in Henefer, Utah. The celebration included a reenactment of the pioneers’ passage through his town. President Richins was heavily involved with the plans for the celebration, and he attended many meetings with General Authorities and others to discuss the events. He was fully engaged. Just before the actual celebration, President Richins’s stake was reorganized, and he was released as president. On a subsequent Sunday, he was attending his ward priesthood meeting when the leaders asked for volunteers to help with the celebration. President Richins, along with others, raised his hand and was given instructions to dress in work clothes and to bring his truck and a shovel. Finally, the morning of the big event came, and President Richins reported to volunteer duty. Only a few weeks before, he had been an influential contributor to the planning and supervision of this major event. On that day, however, his job was to follow the horses in the parade and clean up after them. President Richins did so gladly and joyfully. He understood that one kind of service is not above another. He knew and put into practice the words of the Savior: ‘He that is greatest among you shall be your servant.’” Whether we hold a position of prominence or we are given some menial task, it doesn’t matter—what is important is that we humbly serve the Lord with all our hearts.  

Love,

Dad