Does God play favorites?

If a kid has siblings, at some point they are going to wonder which kid their parents like the most.  With some parents, it’s painfully obvious that they favor one child over another.  At the other end of the spectrum are parents who express love to their children equally.  However, since we all receive love differently (see: love languages), there is a possibility that children can interpret a parent’s expression of love to a sibling as favoritism.

The same dynamic can play out in other settings when there is an authority person over a group.  Work, sports teams, and social clubs are all examples of places where favoritism can show up.  And if you’ve read even a chapter or two of the gospel accounts, you’ll notice that the disciples are constantly angling to be considered Jesus’ “right-hand man”.

Out of the 12 disciples, Jesus did have an inner circle made up of Peter, James, and John.  However, even among those three, you can find some jostling for position.  While you might assume this kind of posturing only took place early on in the ministry, you would be wrong.  Even after Jesus’ resurrection, we see expressions of concern about positions and favorites.

The setting for this particular scene is a familiar one – Peter had denied knowing Jesus three times during the night Jesus was arrested.  After the resurrection, Jesus spent 40 days with the disciples.  During that time, He had a specific conversation with Peter, restoring him three times and re-commissioning him as a leader.  Towards the end of their conversation, Jesus tells Peter this:

John 21:18-19
“Truly I tell you, when you were younger, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted.  But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you and carry you where you don’t want to go.”

He said this to indicate by what kind of death Peter would glorify God.  After saying this, He told him, “Follow Me.”

On the one hand, Jesus gave Peter some good news – he’s going to live to the point that he has grown old.  But then there’s also bad news – Jesus is indicating that Peter’s death will be via crucifixion, as to stretch out your hands was a common euphemism for someone dying on a cross.  Although He just gave Peter an incredible foresight into his future, Jesus then brought his attention back to the present with His command of “Follow Me”.

However, Peter’s attention did drift elsewhere:

John 21:20-21
So Peter turned around and saw the disciple Jesus loved following them, the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and asked, “Lord, who is the one that’s going to betray You?”  When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?”

John was the youngest disciple, and he seemed to have a special “in” with Jesus…after all, he was the one to ask such a direct question to Jesus during the Last Supper.  In fact, it was Peter who put John up to asking the question in the first place.  Peter didn’t have the confidence that he could ask such a question…but thought John could.

You can almost hear the thoughts of Peter in this moment…Oh, so I’m going to die violently.  I wonder if Jesus’ “favorite” will face the same pain?  How fair is this going to be?

That’s always our hang up, isn’t it?  If we’re going down, we want to know how many others are going to suffer with us.  And…if someone else isn’t going to suffer like us…then we want to know WHY.

However, Jesus didn’t answer Peter’s question.  Instead, He said:

John 21:22
“If I want him to remain until I come,” Jesus answered, “what is that to you?  As for you, follow Me.”

Jesus wasn’t obligated to answer Peter’s question.  Peter is not the one to determine if God’s plan for another person’s life is acceptable.  Peter doesn’t get to judge Jesus’ actions, looking for favoritism.  I love the blunt question, “What is that to you?”.  Peter’s focus needs to be on his own walk with God, and not on anyone else.

So, when we get full of ourselves or down on God because someone else has been blessed in ways that we haven’t, or we think that our struggles are unfair compared to the lives of other believers, I hope Jesus’ question to Peter rings in our ears:

What is that to you?  As for you, follow Me.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Stomaching the misconduct of leaders

I think Dr. Thomas Constable was right when he wrote in his notes on 1 Timothy, “Criticism of leaders is a favorite spectator sport.” 

Let’s face it – not everyone is going to agree with or “like” every pastor they come across.  But how should an accusation of misconduct be handled?

As Paul continued his instructions for Timothy regarding the appointment of church leadership, he takes a realistic, yet extremely serious, approach to dealing with leaders who may not be living up the standards their position would require.

1 Timothy 5:19-21
Don’t accept an accusation against an elder unless it is supported by two or three witnesses.  Publicly rebuke those who sin, so that the rest will also be afraid.  I solemnly charge you, before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing out of favoritism.

Paul’s directions fit in perfectly with what Jesus taught his disciples about church discipline (Matthew 18:15-17).  Timothy must thoroughly evaluate an accusation against an elder.  One person’s word isn’t sufficient.  However, if the charge proves true – if the elder isn’t living up to the qualifications set forth a few verses back in 1 Timothy 3, then a public rebuke and/or removal from office may be in order.  These steps would correct the issue with the elder in question…but also keep the other elders from falling into the same trap. 

Paul could not have been more serious regarding the importance of going through this process without any prejudice or favoritism.  When Jesus referred to his return with the Father and the elect angels, it was in regard to judgment (Matt 25:31; Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26; Rev 14:10).  While we might be tempted to think that a public rebuke is too harsh, it is better for an elder to be confronted now than for them to go on unchecked and then be confronted later by Jesus at the Bema judgement.

In order to avoid these kinds of situations, Paul gives Timothy some additional guidance:

1 Timothy 5:22-25
Don’t be too quick to lay hands on anyone, and don’t share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.

Don’t continue drinking only water, but use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.

Some people’s sins are evident, going before them to judgement, but the sins of others follow them.

Likewise, good works are obvious, and those that are not obvious cannot remain hidden.

Paul’s water vs. wine comment might seem a little strange to us, but keep in mind that wine was used for medicinal purposes in the ancient world.  Purified water from a faucet wasn’t readily available like it is for us.  Even though their water may look fine, there was a decent chance that it was contaminated.  Using a small amount of alcoholic wine would have been beneficial in keeping his digestive tract in working order.

It seems to me that Paul is taking a practical step from Timothy’s life and using it as an example of how to manage the appointment of leaders.  Timothy needs be cautious about appointing someone to represent God and lead others in their relationship with Jesus.  Just because someone seems like a “nice Christian guy” and he can quote a few Scriptures doesn’t mean he should be leading the congregation.  The importance of Timothy taking preventative measures to keep pure would also ensure that the church family would also avoid having to stomach elder-judgement issues in the future.

Bottom line for us?  We need to recognize that our leader’s lives matter.  We can’t expect them to be perfect, but their position mandates a level of blamelessness in order for them to handle this kind of influence on God’s family.  Just like Timothy needed to take appropriate steps in evaluating a leader, we need to do the same when we are considering who we get our Bible teaching from.  Just because they’re on the radio doesn’t mean they are “good” and their teaching is accurate.  Just because they are “really nice” doesn’t mean that we should be submitting to their leadership.  We need to do some work on the front end to avoid being misled.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Practical application: work (part 2)

I’ve often wondered why work is just so difficult some times.  Despite the best intentions and efforts of the people around me, the work to be done always takes more effort than it should, is never produced as quickly as it could be, and the full potential of a given project never seems to be fully realized.  When I take a moment to consider these short-comings, it leaves me rather frustrated with thoughts of what could have been if certain issues had not gotten in the way.

The truth of the matter is that these constant issues in our work are part of the consequences for Adam’s sin against God:

Genesis 3:17-18
The ground is cursed because of you.  You will eat from it by means of painful labor all the days of your life.  It will produce thorns and thistles for you

The biggest thorns and thistles we deal with at work typically fall into these categories: motivation, appropriate pay, politics, or management issues.  Any one of these thorns can cause major problems, but our daily experience usually combines several of them together. 

While Paul was instructing slaves on how they were to view and conduct their daily responsibilities, his directions are something that we can also apply as we deal with our own responsibilities:

Colossians 3:23-4:1
Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men, knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord – you serve the Lord Christ.  For the wrongdoer will be paid back for whatever wrong he has done, and there is no favoritism.

Masters, supply your slaves with what is right and fair, since you know that you too have a Master in heaven.

Did you notice how Paul addressed each one of our major thorn categories?

Issues with our own motivation really comes down to who we believe we’re responsible to.  Are we working for our boss, our co-workers, or just trying to make some money to support our families?  If that’s the case, remember that at some point, our boss, co-workers, or family will let us down.  When that happens, our work will suffer because we’ll begin to believe that our efforts aren’t worthy of the person we’re working for.  Instead, we need to remember that our daily work is something done for the Lord and not for men.  We honor God and His reputation when we enthusiastically give our best in the task at hand.

Whether our earthly boss is fair or not, do we trust God to give good rewards?  If anyone is going to be cutting checks, wouldn’t you want God to do it?  Not only is he able to evaluate the finished product, but He knows all the details of how the project work was done…all the way down to the moment-by-moment motivation of the workers.  Even if we don’t receive an immediate payoff for our efforts, we must keep in mind that we will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord and the quality of this reward is based upon what we accomplish and how we accomplished it.

One of our major thorns has to do with injustice and favoritism in the workplace.  However, do we believe that the person who wrongs us will be held accountable by God?  Our desire for fairness is real and justified.  However, when office politics and favoritism muddies up a situation…do we trust God when He says He’ll take care of it?  Even if we have to wait for Him to do so?

Lastly, we have all experienced the pains of ineffective, or even incompetent, management.  Paul’s point here is that if we find ourselves in a position overseeing the work of others, it is imperative that we remain humble and do what is right by the people who work for us.  After all, isn’t that how our Master in heaven treats us?

Thorns and thistles and painful labor will continue to be part of our daily lives until Jesus returns.  Until then, whenever the issues are dragging us down, we just need to remember Who it is we’re truly working for.

Colossians 3:23-4:1
Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men

Keep Pressing,
Ken