ON FIRING GREATNESS IN OTHERS

All of us have known or observed those rare individuals who seem to be able to take what

is average and forge it into greatness:

• A disinterested student

• A failing company

• A discouraged athlete

Look into the eyes of the person on the street and more often than not you will see

disappointment. Unfulfilled aspirations. People who have settled into second best. In all

probability, whatever dreams they once had have failed to translate into reality.

Oh, there are the exceptions to be sure.

But what you don’t often see in people’s eyes is that spark… that sense of anticipation…

HOPE.

I have a question for us who have tasted of the richness of Christ and have come to

understand the greatest challenge ever meted out to mankind – that of going and making

disciples of every nation:

“Must we too be consigned to that same category of dashed dreams, disappointment, and

run-of-the-mill subsistence?” I would like to believe the answer is a resounding “No!”

Listen to Robert K. Greenleaf: “Servant leaders are healers in the sense of making whole by helping

others to a larger and nobler vision and purpose than they would be likely to attain for themselves.”

The prophet Isaiah gave us the secret to fulfilled dreams and hope in writing, “If you give

yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in darkness, and

your gloom will become like midday and the Lord will continually guide you, and satisfy your desires…

and you shall be like a watered garden… ” (Isaiah 58:10, 11)

Back to Mr. Greenleaf: Those servant leaders who are great for God understand what it

means to take that “average” person and serve him in Jesus’ name. They know what it means

to bring healing to him by helping him “to a larger and nobler vision and purpose than [he] would

be likely to attain for [himself].”

That is, the servant leader knows the importance of believing in him, investing his life in

him, and pouring out his soul for him. He understands what it means to take him to the

top of the mountain and help him gain a vision of what he can become for God… To fire

in his soul a passion for greatness that is characterized by a life of sacrificial service to others.

And in so doing, the servant leader himself will also be lifted out of the quagmire of self-

absorption and despair to become a watered garden from which others may freely drink.