Becoming Great
Chrysostom once wrote,
“If you want to make your child rich, teach him this: He is truly rich who does not desire great possessions . . . and thinks lightly of this life's passing glories.”
This truth was once highlighted for me in a way I will never forget. I often give our Guild students the opportunity to join a conference call with master teachers and artists. In one of these phone conferences, I interviewed European actor Peter Morton. When I asked how a young person can become a great actor like himself, his reply took my breath away. Before you read this, you need to imagine his voice sounding like an aged king from long ago.
He said:
“First, you need to give up all desires of becoming a great actor. You need to devote yourself to your craft, not to desires to become great. Then, when opportunities present themselves, your primary goal is to lift up the actors around you. Your job as an actor is to accentuate the character of others. They are to increase while you decrease. If I play a servant, for example, and I'm in the presence of a king, my role is to communicate to the audience the character of the king by my humble attitudes and actions. The king will be known through me.”
When I heard these words, I thought of Philippians 2:
“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him.”
If you're looking for a new role to play, one that will make you eternally rich and presently rewarded, practice the art of serving those around you. And, as it is in all good stories, you may be surprised when God unexpectedly changes your role from humble servant to royal knight of the King!
Sincerely,
Mark Hamby
M.S., M. Div., Th. M., D. Min.
If you would like to see these truths lived out in inspiring and dramatic ways, you won’t want to miss these three life-changing audio dramas:
Sir Malcolm and the Missing Prince is the captivating story of how one boy learns that the greatest of kings is the humblest of servants.
Charlie’s Choice tells of a boy dreaming of a life of luxury and ease - and is determined to find it. He will not be doomed to a life of toil and poverty. But will his quest for a better life doom him to far greater evils?
The Captive is the powerful tale of one young man kidnapped by Algerian pirates, Anselmo finds himself on the auction block in a foreign country. When offered an easy escape from life’s tough circumstances, some would eagerly jump at the opportunity and flee the trials that God has laid in their path—but Anselmo is made of sterner stuff.
