The Michael Jordan documentary “The Last Dance” was highly successful and introduced younger fans to Michael Jordan. It reignited on sports talk shows the discussion of who is the greatest basketball player of all-time. ESPN even produced a list of the top players of all-time. This same debate happens in every sport, even sometimes between sports in the conversation of who is the greatest athlete.
I would like to weigh in on this discussion, not to argue for one player over another, but to share some thoughts I have about our obsession with who is the greatest. While this can be a fun debate, I think we often miss the forest for the tree by such a focus. So notice three problems with focusing on the question of “Who is the greatest?”.
First, focusing on selecting the one greatest of all does a disservice to recognizing the unique talents and skills others possessed. For example, basketball players fill different positions. How do you accurately compare a center like Shaq or Kareem to a guard like Jordan or Magic? They had very different skills sets, expectations, and body types.
Second, focusing on selecting the one greatest of all nominates a winner and then divides allegiance along those lines. Fans or “experts” select who they feel is the greatest and put them up on a pedestal. People choose and debate who is the greatest and take sides based on their opinion. It divides people into various camps.
Third, focusing on selecting the one greatest of all fails to really capture the true essence of greatness. These arguments in sports are really about who is the greatest AT something. Truthfully, they are just proclaimed “great” because they could shoot or hit a ball and do it better than everyone else. It truth, it isn’t a statement about their love, kindness, generosity, worth, or status; but simply saying they were great AT something.
Jesus’ disciples had a similar debate. It wasn’t about sports icons, but it was the same debate that rages today, “Who is the greatest?” (Mat. 18:1). This debate still rages in churches, businesses, marriages, and generally anywhere there two or more are gathered! At the root of most any dispute is a debate about “Who is the greatest?”.
The “Who is the greatest?” debate is so troublesome and concerning because it fails to recognize the talents and skills of others, divides people along party lines, and fails to capture the true essence of greatness. Read the three points earlier I made about debating the greatest sports icon, and see if they don’t apply directly to a church, family, or business. Jesus taught us that true greatness is servanthood (Mat. 20:26-27; John 13). Maybe we are so obsessed with selecting the GOAT’s of the sporting world, because we live each day jockeying for position and seeking to crown ourselves the GOAT of our own little arenas. We are just like the disciples arguing with one another “Who is the greatest?”.
