I always find it interesting when Jesus describes the life of a believer as one of contradiction. An example of what I mean is when Jesus tells us that those who are great here on earth will be least in heaven and those who are considered least here on earth will be considered great in heaven. In Mark 9:33-35 it says:
"They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, 'What were you arguing about on the road?' But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, 'If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all'".
Isn't that interesting? Jesus also tells us that he didn't come to earth to be served, but to serve. There are things that we think should be a certain way because of how we’ve been trained in our culture. But Jesus explains that the attributes of a Christ follower are often counter-culture. People who we think are the least, or “servants”, will be considered great in heaven. And those who we consider to be great, even some who we may think have a great “Christian walk”, will be the least in heaven. So, maybe we should change our way of thinking and try to be the least here on earth so that we can be considered great in heaven.
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We're often encouraged to be the best, to stand out, and to make our mark in life. Those aren't bad things in and of themselves, but Jesus tells us that being a servant is what we should really aspire to emulate. Because being a servant means being the least, which in turn means being great in heaven. And since heaven is our final destination, I think we should aspire to live like it. Don't you?