WISDOM & WONDER | A Measure of True Greatness | Matthew 18:1-6

About this clip

This is part of the curated Thought-Provoking Content and People collection on Face of Faith, voices, interviews and teachings that helped shape one person's journey into Christianity. If something here lands with you, explore more from Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell or dive into bite-sized faith snippets, real testimonies and why Christianity.

Reflection

Jesus's answer to his disciples' question about greatness, in Matthew 18, is startling precisely because it inverts their expectations; he calls a child forward and says, 'unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven' (Matthew 18:3). Children, in that culture, held little status or power, and Jesus's choice of image dismantles any notion that greatness is measured by influence, achievement, or recognition. True greatness, in this teaching, looks like humility, dependence, and a willingness to be overlooked, qualities that run against the grain of most ambition, religious or otherwise. This passage challenges believers to examine what they are actually pursuing when they seek significance, and whether their measure of a meaningful life matches the one Jesus offers. It is a demanding standard precisely because it cannot be achieved through effort in the usual sense; it requires the kind of trust a child has, simply received rather than earned.

Questions to sit with

• How do you personally measure significance or greatness, and how does that compare with Jesus's teaching here?
• What would it look like practically to become 'like a little child' in your faith?
• Where do you notice ambition, even religious ambition, competing with genuine humility?