The big news this week has been about President-elect Trump building his cabinet for his upcoming administration. Mr. Trump is laser-focused on his pledge to make America great according to his standards.
Mr. Trump is determined to pick successful leaders and businessmen who are loyal to him and his agenda. Qualifications, character, and morals aren’t required, just success and loyalty. President-elect Trump has already selected numerous controversial candidates for his administration: Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert, Tulsi Gabbard, and Pete Hegseth so far.
Many of Mr. Trump’s selections may never make it through Congress’ vetting process. The problem is Mr. Trump looks at greatness from a worldly perspective like most unbelievers do.
- Greed
- Selfishness
- Unloving
- Earthly Power
For almost 250 years America has become a great nation by doing the opposite of everything Mr. Trump and Maga plan to accomplish. America broke away from Britain in part to have religious freedom and not be forced into believing a particular faith.
America grew by welcoming immigrants from around the world. This experiment in freedom was meant to liberate us from dictators and tyranny, not allow us to become like those our forefathers broke away from. And the hypocrisy of Maga is America was never meant to be America first, our focus was to put God first, not seek earthly greatness.
America became a great nation by practicing the basic Christian principle of loving our neighbor and putting God first which are the two greatest commandments (Deuteronomy 10:12, Matthew 22:37.)
What is Greatness?
Most of us have our idea of what greatness is because Americans have different values: money, fame, family, possessions, and success. The dictionary defines greatness as, “The quality or state of being great; noble or distinguished.”
Growing up as an Army brat I had the opportunity to witness the greatest parts of America and the worst. The world’s version of greatness is temporary and limited because it doesn’t take long for people to forget what is great today and gone tomorrow.
God’s people cannot forget our call to be humble, because God’s people are different from this corrupt world where greatness distorts our perspectives. The world’s ideology is a “me”-first approach because that is the path to greatness in this life.
God’s people are called to put others first because that grows the community and reflects God (Luke 6:31, Romans 15:1; 12:3, 1 Corinthians 10:24, Galatians 5:13, Ephesians 5:21, Philippians 2:3-4, Colossians 3:17.) The Apostle Paul remembered his Jewish education about where true greatness comes from.
Gedullah
the ancient world epitomized the survival of the fittest. Everyone was trying to be at the top of the food chain. Nations didn’t care who they hurt or how long it took; all they wanted to be was the greatest nation on the planet.
The pursuit of greatness can blind us and cause us to become prideful unless we follow the ways and commands of God. The Hebrew word for greatness in the Old Testament is gedullah and it could also mean Majesty, magnificent, or kindness depending on the context.
The Jewish idea of greatness is rooted in the character and the attributes of God, it isn’t defined by this world or what mankind values. God’s divine nature often contradicts the ways of the natural world.
This is seen in God’s Abrahamic covenant, God called one man out of a corrupt nation to build a holy nation unto Himself, the descendants of Abraham grew into a mighty nation not by following the ways of the world but of God’s faithfulness and their obedience to His guidelines (Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25.)
- Remain faithful to God.
- Obey His commands.
- Reflect God’s character.
- Humble themselves.
- Bring salvation to others.
When the Messiah King Jesus arrived, He taught His followers the importance of humility in the Kingdom of God (Matthew 18:3-4; 23:12, Luke 9:48.) Jesus reminded His followers of the basic Jewish teaching that humility is true greatness (Psalm 25:9, Proverbs 22:4; 29:23, Isaiah 57:15.)
God’s people don’t have to chase success in our fight to be great, we must remember to humble ourselves so that God can make us great (Proverbs 25:27, Luke 14:11, James 4:10, 1 Peter 5:6.) We must remember that God fights for us and only He can make us great (Isaiah 40:31, Jeremiah 29:10-11, Romans 8:38-39.)
The people of God are not called to be like this world, but to be the light of it and change it (Acts 17:6 Romans 12:2.) God’s people are called to be different in every way from the world we live in (Proverbs 1:15, 1 Peter 1:1-4:19.)
Israel
As I write this Israel continues its attacks in the Middle East. They destroyed the grand mosque in Gaza. The humble nation of Israel is in hot pursuit of earthly greatness and power.
God’s people cannot fight like the world because that isn’t the way to true greatness (Deuteronomy 8:2, Proverbs 29:23.) God’s people will never achieve true greatness if we continue trying to achieve it by following the ways of the world.
- Prideful
- Violent
- Uncompassionate
When God’s people fail to obey God and follow His ways, He will humble us every time (Exodus 10:3, Job 40:12, Proverbs 16:18.) The 21st-century church needs to wake up and learn from the mistakes of our Jewish forefathers before it is too late.
I’m afraid American pride has blinded many to what true greatness is. As long as America puts itself first, we will never experience true gedullah!
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