To Be Great is To Be Least – by Zack Fugate

  Posted on January 19, 2017  by   1 comment

“An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest.”-Luke 9:46

When I was 19 years old, I was a pretty zealous young believer…and I do mean young. I was at a stage in my walk with Christ that I cared more about being right than I did about loving those around me as Christ loved me. I was excitable, driven to read the Word, and chomping at the bit to engage in debate. Unfortunately, my pride had blinded me such that debate is where I thought the gospel should take place. It all came to a head one evening when I was driving in the car with my sister.

One night, when we were driving back from a family event, my sister and I began a conversation. My girlfriend, who is now my incredible bride, was sitting in the back seat witnessing this discussion. Early on in the discussion, my sister made the statement, “I don’t know why God is causing so many terrible things to happen in my life and I am angry with him.” Without pausing to truly hear the cry of my sister’s heart, I jumped all over her with bible verses and finger pointing. I arrogantly told her that she should be ashamed for saying such a thing about God. The conversation intensified and it got to a point that my sister was crying, I was angry, and my sweet girlfriend sat in the back seat praying for an opportunity to get into the vehicle with my parents, who were in the vehicle ahead of us. The conversation came to an abrupt halt when my sister stated, “Zack, I will never talk to you about God again.” Her statement stopped me dead in my tracks and we didn’t say another word for the rest of the car ride.

Sadly, I had self-righteously come to the conclusion that I was greater than her; that I somehow had the right to offer judgment on my sister’s life and walk with Christ. I found myself wearing the same self-righteous belt as the disciples in Luke 9:46. Christ, however, knew his disciples hearts then, just as he knew the true meaning in my heart that night in the car with my sister. Here is how he responded to the disciples:

“But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side and said to them, ‘Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”-Luke 9:47-48

Just as the disciples did, I had missed the whole point. Christ establishes in these verses that, as the servant to all of mankind, he is truly the one who is great. My role that evening was to love my sister and to be a servant to her…yet I was caught up in my self-righteous perception of greatness. I am so grateful that Christ grabbed my attention that evening and that he ultimately shut my mouth. Brothers and sisters, when my sister told me that she would never talk to me about God again, I was heartbroken. The exact opposite of what I really wanted to happen occurred as a result of my pride and desire to be ‘right’ and ‘great’.

What God had in store for me was a journey of building humility and confronting the pride that was so deeply rooted. As a result of Christ working in my life through many difficult trials of shaping and molding, HE is to be glorified! In fact, God’s love has brought my sister and me to a place of closeness and we have since engaged in many deep and meaningful conversations about God.

Christ did not stop there, however, and I was recently brought to tears when my sister’s forgiveness and the steadfast love of Christ were exacted in a manner that I did not expect. Recently, my sister became engaged to her boyfriend of nearly eight years. Over the course of their relationship, Christ captivated my sister’s heart deeply and her journey following him has been renewed. Her fiancée, who was not a believer for a large portion of their relationship, has since become a follower of Christ, which ultimately led him to propose to my sister because he wanted their relationship to be one that is honoring to God. If that doesn’t cause you to praise God, perhaps it would intensify things to know that neither my sister nor her fiancée ever intended to marry! But once again, God did not stop there. The event that brought me to tears was having my sister and her fiancée call me two weeks ago to ask me if I would officiate their wedding, an honor that would never have happened if it weren’t for the love and true greatness of Christ.

–Your Brother in Christ,
Zack Fugate