It’s possible to spend a lot of energy winning at something Jesus never asked us to play.

That’s the tension running through Mark 9. Jesus is teaching His disciples what His Kingdom looks like, but they keep interpreting everything through the rules they already know. They understand greatness as position, recognition, influence, and being ahead of somebody else. So while Jesus talks about laying down His life, they argue about which of them is the greatest.

They’re following Jesus while still keeping score like everyone else.

That hits uncomfortably close to home.

We have plenty of scoreboards available to us. Career advancement. Income. Recognition. Our kids’ achievements. Social media engagement. Being right. Being included. Even our place within a church, ministry, political tribe, or friend group can become another way to measure ourselves against somebody else.

The danger is that we can become so accustomed to those measurements that we never stop to ask whether we’re succeeding at the right thing.

Jesus gives His disciples a radically different picture of greatness. He brings a child into their conversation—someone without status, influence, or anything to offer them—and tells them to pay attention. Greatness in His Kingdom isn’t found by climbing high enough to be noticed. It’s found in becoming the servant of all and welcoming people the world has learned to overlook.

Then Jesus pushes the lesson even further. Whatever repeatedly pulls us back toward the old scoreboard needs to be dealt with seriously. The question isn’t simply, “Is this thing wrong?” Sometimes perfectly good things can train our hearts toward the wrong definition of the good life.

A better question is: What kind of person is this forming me into?

That question can expose things we’ve learned to excuse. The constant comparison. The need to prove ourselves. The craving to be noticed. The instinct to protect our tribe. The anxiety that appears whenever somebody else seems to be getting ahead.

Following Jesus means more than asking Him to help us succeed. It means allowing Him to redefine success.

So perhaps one of the most revealing questions we can ask at the end of a day is the simplest one:

What game was I trying to win?

And if we don’t like the answer, grace gives us another opportunity to set our eyes on a different Kingdom and learn to play the right game.

Reflection Questions

1. What “scoreboard” most often determines whether you feel successful, valuable, or significant?
2. What good or ordinary things in your life might quietly be forming you toward comparison, competition, recognition, or control rather than the way of Jesus?
3. If you asked yourself, “What game was I trying to win?” at the end of each day, what might need to change about where you give your attention, energy, and ambition?