By Marian Wright Edelman
“If you want to be important—wonderful. If you want to be recognized—wonderful. If you want to be great—wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That’s a new definition of greatness. And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know Einstein’s theory of relativity to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.”
As we celebrate the national holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., which coincides with Inauguration Day in Washington, D.C., this year, it is an opportune moment to return to Dr. King’s definition of greatness. The well-known words above are from Dr. King’s sermon “The Drum Major Instinct,” delivered at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on February 4, 1968. Dr. King was explaining that we all start out with the ingrained instinct to be “drum majors”: everyone wants to be important, to be first, to lead the parade. Watch a group of small children pushing and shoving to form a line and you’ll see this instinct in action. But Dr. King correctly pointed out that too many people never outgrow it—and by placing value on being the most powerful or famous or the wealthiest or best-educated, we forget one of the Gospels’ and life’s largest truths: the real path to greatness is through service.
This is one of the key lessons we should teach children and young people about Dr. King. Many of them have just studied Dr. King in school in the days leading up to his birthday—at least, those whose schools allow lessons on Dr. King’s life and legacy. Young people today often see him as a history book hero, a larger-than-life, mythical figure. But it’s crucial for them to understand Dr. King wasn’t a superhuman with magical powers, but a real person. He gave us a blueprint for true servant-leadership everyone can follow.
I first heard Dr. King speak in person at a Spelman College chapel service during my senior year in college. Dr. King was just 31, but he had already gained a national reputation during the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott five years earlier. He became a mentor and friend. Although I do remember him as a great leader and a hero, I also remember him as someone able to admit how often he was afraid and unsure about his next step. It was his human vulnerability and ability to rise above it that I most remember. “If I Can Help Somebody Along the Way” was his favorite song. He was an ordinary man who made history because he was willing to stand up and serve and make a difference in extraordinary ways, and children and young people need to know that theycan and must make a difference too. Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve.
Towards the end of this sermon, Dr. King told the congregation he sometimes thought about his own death and funeral. He said when that day came he didn’t want people to talk about his Nobel Peace Prize or his degrees or hundreds of awards: “I’d like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others. I’d like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody. I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war question. I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry. And I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked. I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison. I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity. Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. I won’t have any money to leave behind. I won’t have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind. And that’s all I want to say.”
Dr. King was assassinated two months to the day after delivering this sermon. But a recording of “The Drum Major Instinct” was played at his funeral at Ebenezer Baptist Church, and many people think of these moving words in Dr. King’s voice as his own eulogy. He knew how he wanted to be remembered. A very similar emphasis on service was echoed in the recent national tributes to President Jimmy Carter. Who among us today will be remembered as servant-leaders, and who will be remembered as drum majors?
Servant-leadership remains the path to true greatness.