Songs that talk about the drive for greatness appeals to me. Two songs by Survivor come to mind- "Moment of Truth" and "Eye of the Tiger". Whitney Houston's "One moment in time" appeal to me also for the same reason. Those songs appeal to me because deep inside, I have the desire to stand out, to be better than anybody else, to be great.

This truth about me prompted me to ask the question,"Is the desire to be the best compatible with the Christian life?" This question comes in light of two things.

1. The Apostle's Paul admonition for Christians to imitate Christ who "Being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped".

2. The frustration that this drive will most definitely cause. Most of us will not become the best at what we do and would not reach the goals we have set for ourselves. Think about the Buffalo Bills, with their four Super Bowl appearances, and losing all of them. Imagine the frustration among the players who I'm sure had dreams of winning the Super Bowl, and getting so close. 

The truth is there are many things in life that we cannot change. The fact that we will most probably not reach the goals we set for ourselves is just one of them. How should we deal with this reality?

1. I believe we should leave the results of our "works" in God's providence. We are ultimately not in control of our futures. The solution to things not going our way is not to try harder to make things work our way. Behind frustration may be a call to accept that we are not in complete control. Frustration could also be a sign that God is leading us in a new direction. Wherever God is leading, remember that his goal is growth in our character, not necessarily our comfort or happiness.

2. Does that mean we should do our "work" haphazardly? What do we make of our desire to be great. Is that desire wrong? The desire to stand above others or to have complete control of our environments, including the people in them causes heartache for the person and those who are affected. However, God calls us to have dominion. Therefore, the desire for greatness is related to God's call to have dominion.

3. What is the goal of dominion? To participate in God's continuing creation, the Spirit's movement to perfect creation. This could take the form of finding cure for certain diseases. This could take the form of enhancing food production. This could take the form of giving people something to be admired- beauty, strength, speed. God enjoys a great football play and great artwork just like the next person. He created fast and beautiful animals and he enjoys them. He said creation was good when the animals were formed. Then he said creation was very good when humans were formed. All creation delighted God and our work delights God. We don't have to be great in everyone's eyes. Before God, we are already precious.