There was a former Under Secretary of Defense who was invited to give a speech at a large conference of about 1,000 people. He was standing on the stage with his cup of coffee in a Styrofoam cup, giving his prepare remarks with his Power Point behind him. He took a sip of his coffee and he smiled, and he looked down at the coffee. Then he went off script. He said, "You know, last year I spoke at this exact same conference. Last year I was still the Under Secretary. When I spoke here last year, they flew me here business class. When I arrived at the airport, there was somebody waiting for me to take me to my hotel. They took me to my hotel and they had already checked me in and they just took me up to my room. The next morning, I came downstairs and there was somebody waiting in the lobby to greet me, and they drove me to this here same venue. They took me through the back entrance and took me into the green room and handed me a cup of coffee in a beautiful ceramic mug. I'm no longer the Under Secretary. I flew here coach. I took a taxi to my hotel and I checked myself in. When I came down to the lobby this morning, I took another taxi to this venue. I came in the front door and found my way back stage. When I asked someone, 'Do you have any coffee?,' he pointed to the machine in the corner and I poured myself a cup of coffee into this here Styrofoam cup. The lesson is, the ceramic mug was never meant for me; it was meant for the position I held. I deserved a Styrofoam cup."
As you gain fame, as you gain fortune, as you gain position and seniority, people will treat you better. They will hold doors open for you. They will get you a cup of tea or coffee without you even asking. They will call you sir and ma'am and they will give you stuff. NONE of that stuff is meant for you! That stuff is meant for the position you hold. It is meant for the level you have achieved, of leader or success or whatever you want to call it. You will ALWAYS deserve a Styrofoam cup.
David Jeremiah, teaching on Daniel, once said, "Envy always hates the excellency it cannot reach. Jealousy is the tribute that mediocrity pays to genius. Daniel was extremely careful not to make a mistake. He was not noted for any lack of judgment. There was no error recorded against him; no lapse of discernment or discretion. Nothing on his record was bad. Alexander Maclaren had this to say about Daniel: 'It's remarkable that a character of such beauty and consecration as Daniel's should be rooted and grow out of the court where Daniel was. For this court was half shambles and half pig stye. It was filled with luxury and sensuality and lust and self-seeking and idolatry and ruthless cruelty; and the like were the environment of this man. And in the middle of this there grew up that fair flower of character, pure and stainless by the acknowledging of his enemies.' Anyone who aspires to leadership, there is always going to be a price to pay for being a leader. There is always going to be a penalty to pay for excellency in anything you do. It's true in any field, even outside of Christianity. Take a musician who's determined to excel, and they pay a price for it. Take an athlete who determines to excel, and there's a price to be paid. The man who gives himself to success, to excellency, will sooner or later pay the penalty of primacy."
The closest David Jeremiah says he has come to this in his own life, was when he went to Fort Wayne to start a church. When he first went there, all the pastors in the city were his friends. They used to get together for Pastor fellowships. They'd drop over and encourage him, see how he was doing. As God began to bless the little church he had started and it began to grow, first gradually and then quickly and then explosively; as the church grew one way, the circle of his friends went the other way. He began to hear bad things about his church that weren't true. He discovered that at the highest level of Christian leadership, envy can get its foot in the door and it can be destructive and divisive and hurtful in the ministry of Christ Jesus.
As you succeed in life, when you become the top dog, numero uno, the head cheese, everyone beneath you is jealous of your accomplishments and wants to to tear you down and see you fall. They're fine with you being number two and striving to be number one, but they hate if you ever become number one. It's like this: if you tell people that you're a seeker of truth, they will cheer you on; but if you tell them you've discovered the truth, they will hate you. They're fine with you seeking it, but don't want you to ever find it. When you succeed, people will do things for you. They will bend over backwards for you, but they're jealous of you. They want to be where you are. As soon as someone else takes your spot, you're yesterday's news. Whether at the top, or at the bottom, all you deserve is a Styrofoam cup. If you happen to receive a ceramic mug, be humble, be grateful, be thankful, because it's more than you deserve. Anyone who is determined to excel and succeed will sooner or later pay the price for primacy, for being number one.
When you strive for excellency and live in excellency, those who are jealous of you will try to seek occasion against you. If they can find no dirt on you, they will attempt to make it up, and if that does not work, they will seek a way against you using your religion as they did with Daniel.