46An argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest. 47But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by His side, 48and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.” Luke 9:46-48

Read Luke 9:46-56

Just when the disciples were starting to feel it, that is, like all of us might be prone to do, becoming conscious of ourselves as key players in the Jesus movement. His advance team. His handlers. His closest advisors. His right hand men. Jesus set them straight. This was their “Men, this is a football” moment. Only in the Master’s case, the object lesson was a child.

Nothing gets done in the kingdom of God on power and authority accrued politically, but through abject humiliation. If you wish to be great you must be small. Better yet, don’t aspire to be great, but yearn to understand the mind of Christ. Seek out his spirit within you and prepare for his direction to be potentially counterintuitive. See someone not on your team casting out demons? That’s good not bad. Get snubbed? No, don’t call fire down from heaven. Love them. Pray for them.

But it’s never a matter of guessing what would Jesus do (WWJD) in a given situation, but standing by and doing what he wants to do through you as an obedient child.