“For he who is least among you all – he is the greatest.” – Luke 9:48
A client of mine from years ago had just been hired as the top leader of a large organization. In one of his first acts he called a meeting of the other senior executives who would serve as his direct reports. It was late afternoon, so when he arrived at the meeting room he found a custodian hustling to finish cleaning up the room which had been used for other purposes that day. My client noticed and began to pitch in by helping empty wastebaskets. He thought nothing of it until he overheard some ridicule about someone in his high-level position stooping to do such menial work as picking up trash.
Moments later after the custodian had left, my client (and friend) looked around this room full of big shots, then opened the meeting with this message: “You and I cannot do our jobs effectively without the help of those who endeavor to keep our rooms and offices clean. They help us immensely in doing our jobs. The least we can do is help them in doing theirs.”
Not to diminish the importance of the work of those high-level executives gathered in that meeting that day, for such groups – the big thinkers – are depended upon to provide the visions, directions, and strategies that will impact the success and future of organizations. Yet, equally important, or perhaps even more so, is the role of the menial and mundane, as author Wendell Berry points out in an essay written many years ago titled Think Little. In it he offers the example of “a couple who make a good marriage, and raise healthy, morally competent children. [They] are serving the world’s future more directly and surely than any political [or organizational] leader. “Though,” he adds, “they never utter a public word.”
I wonder if that is what Jesus is trying to point out when he says, “For he who is least among you all – he is the greatest.” Like my friend walking into that room. While some viewed the task of emptying trash as menial, he recognized it as vital work to the organization. We have a great society and a strong economy because we’ve all been encouraged to Think Big. But as Wendell Berry points out in his essay, it is also essential that we Think Little – for while the big thinkers are debating their big ideas, it is often the least among us, and the least noticed among us, who turn out to be the greatest.