IN the
twenty-third chapter of Matthew Jesus makes a very plain distinction between
true and false greatness; and also points out the one great danger to all who
wish to become great; the most insidious of temptations which all must avoid
and fight unceasingly who desire to really climb in the world. Speaking to the
multitude and to his disciples he bids them beware of adopting the principle of
the Pharisees. He points out that while the Pharisees are just and righteous
men, honorable judges, true lawgivers and upright in their dealings with men,
they “love the uppermost seats at feasts and greetings in the market place, and
to be called Master, Master”; and in comparison with this principle, he says:
“He that will be great among you let him serve.”
The
average person’s idea of a great man, rather than of one who serves, is of one
who succeeds in getting himself served. He gets himself in a position to
command men; to exercise power over them, making them obey his will. The
exercise of dominion over other people, to most persons, is a great thing.
Nothing seems to be sweeter to the selfish soul than this. You will always find
every selfish and undeveloped person trying to domineer over others, to
exercise control over other men. Savage men were no sooner placed upon the
earth than they began to enslave one another. For ages the struggle in war,
diplomacy, politics, and government has been aimed at the securing of control
over other men. Kings and princes have drenched the soil of the earth in blood
and tears in the effort to extend their dominions and their power to rule more
people.
The struggle
of the business world today is the same as that on the battlefields of Europe a century ago so far as the ruling principle is
concerned. Robert 0. Ingersoll could not understand why men like Rockefeller
and Carnegie seek for more money and make themselves slaves to the business
struggle when they already have more than they can possibly use. He thought it
a kind of madness and illustrated it as follows: “Suppose a man had fifty
thousand pairs of pants, seventy-five thousand vests, one hundred thousand
coats, and one hundred and fifty thousand neckties, what would you think of him
if he arose in the morning before light and worked until after it was dark
every day, rain or shine, in all kinds of weather, merely to get another
necktie?”
But it is
not a good simile. The possession of neckties gives a man no power over other
men, while the possession of dollars does. Rockefeller, Carnegie, and their
kind are not after dollars but power. It is the principle of the Pharisee; it
is the struggle for the high place. It develops able men, cunning men,
resourceful men, but not great men.
I want
you to contrast these two ideas of greatness sharply in your minds. “He that
will be great among you let him serve.” Let me stand before the average
American audience and ask the name of the greatest American and the majority
will think of Abraham Lincoln; and is this not because in Lincoln above all the other men who have
served us in public life we recognize the spirit of service?
Not
servility, but service. Lincoln
was a great man because he knew how to be a great servant. Napoleon, able,
cold, selfish, seeking the high places, was a brilliant man. Lincoln was great; Napoleon was not. The very
moment you begin to advance and are recognized as one who is doing things in a
great way you will find yourself in danger. The temptation to patronize,
advise, or take upon yourself the direction of other people’s affairs is
sometimes almost irresistible. Avoid, however, the opposite danger of falling
into servility, or of completely throwing yourself away in the service of
others. To do this has been the ideal of a great many people. The completely
self-sacrificing life has been thought to be the Christ-like life, because, as
I think, of a complete misconception of the character and teachings of Jesus. I
have explained this misconception in a little book that I hope you may all
sometime read, “A New Christ”.
Thousands
of people imitating Jesus, as they suppose, have belittled themselves and given
up all else to go about doing good; practicing an altruism that is really as
morbid and as far from great as the rankest selfishness. The finer instincts
which respond to the cry of trouble or distress are not by any means all of
you; they are not necessarily the best part of you. There are other things you
must do besides helping the unfortunate, although it is true that a large part
of the life and activities of every great person must be given to helping other
people. As you begin to advance they will come to you. Do not turn them away. But
do not make the fatal error of supposing that the life of complete
self-abnegation is the way of greatness.
To make
another point here, let me refer to the fact that Swedenborg’s classification
of fundamental motives is exactly the same as that of Jesus. He divides all men
into two groups: those who live in pure love, and those who live in what he
calls the love of ruling for the love of self. It will be seen that this is
exactly the same as the lust for place and power of the Pharisees. Swedenborg saw
this selfish love of power as the cause of all sin. It was the only evil desire
of the human heart, from which all other evil desires sprang.