The Blessing of Being an “Ordinary Guy” Instead of the World’s Greatest General

Melody Hammer Biddle shared this story on Edwin Crozier’s facebook page credited to Mark Twain.

I’ve never heard this story before, but apparently it has been repeated in multiple books.

A man died and met Saint Peter at the gates of heaven. Knowing that Peter was very wise, he asked a question that he had wondered about his whole life.

“He said, ‘I have been interested in military history for many years. Read everything I could, studied it, went to battlefields and walked the grounds. “‘Who was the greatest general of all time?’”

“Peter said, ‘Oh, that’s easy. It’s that man right over there.’”

“The man looked over and he knew him!

‘You have to be mistaken,” he said.  “I knew that man on earth. He was just a common, everyday man—he managed a store near my house.’”

“And Peter said, ‘That’s right. But he would have been the greatest general of all time, if he had been a general.’”

The author recounting Twain’s story opined many people have been led astray by its moral then added, as Paul Harvey used to say, “The Rest of the Story.”

You see, Peter went on to say to the man, “Yep, he would have been the greatest general of all time, but instead of doing that, he became a great store manager. As a great store manager, he trained a great many other great store managers. He helped a number of high school and college students get through school by providing them jobs.

He was always a listening ear when they were struggling, a supportive shoulder to rely on, an encouraging voice in their corner, and a stellar advisor when they needed direction. I can’t tell you how many people went on to successful careers because their first job was with such a great boss.

And let me tell you, he would have been this great general in this particular battle, may have even turned the tide so his side would have won instead of losing like they did. But, praise God, while that battle was going on, he was at home with his wife and kids when a really important moment in his oldest son’s life came up. The son had been encouraged by some friends to steal some money from his mom’s purse so they could go drinking that night. That ‘greatest general’ caught his son in the act. He handled it beautifully.

Here’s what we know up here in heaven. Had that boy gotten away with it, he and his friends would have gone out, gotten drunk, got in a fight with some other fellas, and his best friend would have been stabbed and killed. The sadness and guilt would have driven the man’s son into a depression and he would have killed himself.

The man’s wife wouldn’t have handled that well at all and would have eventually divorced her husband. When he got back from the war, tried to work through the suicide of his son, faced the marriage trouble, endured the divorce, he would have turned to drink himself to deal with the post-war traumatic stress and the family trauma. He wouldn’t be able to hold a job. Would have become homeless. He’d have died on the streets. And you’d never have known him.

But instead of being a great general, that man was just an ordinary person, doing ordinary things like running a shop, raising his kids, loving his wife.

And do you remember that time he realized they had overcharged you for those dishes you bought? What did you think about him when he called you up and gave you your money back?

Oh, yeah, and did I tell you about the neighbor he studied the Bible with? The whole family came over to our side, gave their allegiance to Jesus in baptism. The dad of that family became an elder in Christ’s church and has helped so many people, I mean, I’d have to look at the records to tell you all the people he has counseled. His daughter became a nurse. She has saved lives in the hospital, but also has helped some of those people come to the Lord.

I could go on with other folks your ordinary-store-manager-not-the-greatest-general friend over there taught, helped, led, counseled, supported. But you get the picture.”
Peter went on, “I mean, what did you expect me to say about that guy?

Sure, he would have been the greatest general of all time. But you notice he’s up here with us, right?  I’m able to point him out to you up here because while he didn’t become a great general, every where he went, he was an ordinary servant of God who just did what he thought Jesus wanted him to do in that moment. He wasn’t perfect by any means. But he’s one of ours.”

The author of the incredible piece of fiction then offered this advice.

Please, quit fretting about whether or not you have found the secret sauce to being what God secretly intended you to be. There are a thousand great things out there you could have been, but you can’t be them all.

Don’t let Twain’s story, no matter what book you read it in, paralyze you with the fear that you have chosen the wrong path because you didn’t figure out some precise intention God had for you but didn’t actually reveal to you. Read His Word, do what it says wherever you are. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. Do it in love for God and love for your neighbor. You’ll be fine.

Finally, the actual words of the real apostle Peter, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Pet. 4:10).

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman