Naughty delegation
This week is on 1 Samuel 12:16-19:
The curse God sent on the Israelites was pretty bad. When wheat is harvested, it has to be dry or it will get mold in it that will spoil it in storage. When harvesting grains, farmers have to time their harvest by the weather. This year, however, God sent a curse on their wheat by raining on it. That's their main food crop. Even nowadays, wheat represents like 1/5th of what we eat. That was a pretty powerful message. You've appointed a king for protection, but here's one major thing he can't protect you against. Oops.
Why would the Israelites do something stupid like appointing a king over themselves, when people had warned them that it was a stupid idea? A king represents a huge convenience. People no longer have to take responsibility for their own wellbeing when a king is in charge. If things go badly, they can blame the king and pick a different one. If they go well, it proves that having a king is a good idea. They don't have to make their own decisions and risk being wrong. They don't have to seek God for things, because they've delegated that decision-making to the king. They can do whatever they want, and the king will take care of everything, as if he was God himself. Unfortunately, kings are not gods. They're messed up people just like us.
Things looked pretty good when Saul got selected. He was a good looking guy, strong and powerful, a bold leader, etc. When the Israelites were invaded, he took charge and led them to victory. He seemed humble, and was merciful to people who opposed him. The king thing was looking pretty good until Samuel delivered God's cursed message to the people. If you read further in the book of Samuel, you'll watch how Saul's image falls apart, and how his humanity comes to the surface. He's arrogant, cowardly, extremely selfish, unable to follow simple instructions, jealous, vengeful, etc. God knew that from the beginning, but the people didn't care. They wanted what they wanted, and that was it.
The people wanted the king so that they could no longer have to worry about being accountable for making decisions, but the curse on the wheat crop showed that that wasn't true at all. They were definitely accountable for their decision to choose a king, and the price for that sin was extremely high. Even with our diversified modern diet, if an army swept through the world and removed 1/5 of our food, we'd definitely notice it. People wanted to delegate their relationship with God to other people, but God found them and reintroduced himself anyway. Choosing a king was a stupid idea, no matter how you look at it.
The danger is that we still think like that today. We still choose fallible human leaders to rule over us, and ask them to make laws for us that may or may not represent God's will for our lives. We go to churches where we delegate prayer and the study of scripture to our pastoral staff. We establish authorities to tell us what to eat, what to think, who to trust, who to love and who to hate, all outside of our relationship with God. And then we wonder why things go poorly for us. We trust in things we make with our own hands, and we pledge our obedience to leaders we've made the same way. We weren't designed to live like that.
That's not to say that we shouldn't have authorities that we trust, or that we should stop obeying laws or paying taxes or any of that manifesto-writing nonsense. People have always had leaders, and the Bible urges us to follow obediently and not rock the boat, as far as that doesn't conflict with what God wants. The difference is that the main framework in our lives should come from God, with society's stuff as a supplement, not vice versa.
If we ignore God and refuse to make the decisions we're supposed to make, we're still accountable. If we delegate the study of scripture, the raising of our children as Christians, prayer, charity, and all of the other things that God directs us in, then we've abandoned God for whoever is doing them for us, and we're accountable for that. If all of your understanding of God comes from what your pastor says, then do you really have a relationship with God yourself? If you've exchanged quiet time for a podcast, or scripture study for a pre-printed daily devotional, you're no longer participating. You're delegating. That's dangerous.
If you look to see what happens after the curse, the people repent before Samuel. He tells them not to be afraid, and not to abandon God, even though they've sinned a lot. One of the great things about God that has always been true is that we always have "now" to repent and start again. If you've delegated your walk with God to others, now is a great time to undelegate it and reintroduce yourself to God. He has chosen us, and wants to relate to us directly, actively, and without interference.
The people of Israel wanted to establish a king for themselves, instead of living more or less directly under God. Before they had the king, they lived as a bunch of tribes who had judges and priests to settle disputes and who were occasionally led by different people God had raised up to unite them in battle, etc. People warned them that having a king was a huge danger, but they wanted no part of it. Their neighbors all had kings, and it looked like a great idea."Now then, stand still and see this great thing the LORD is about to do before your eyes! Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call upon the LORD to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the LORD when you asked for a king."
Then Samuel called upon the LORD, and that same day the LORD sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the LORD and of Samuel.
The people all said to Samuel, "Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king."
The curse God sent on the Israelites was pretty bad. When wheat is harvested, it has to be dry or it will get mold in it that will spoil it in storage. When harvesting grains, farmers have to time their harvest by the weather. This year, however, God sent a curse on their wheat by raining on it. That's their main food crop. Even nowadays, wheat represents like 1/5th of what we eat. That was a pretty powerful message. You've appointed a king for protection, but here's one major thing he can't protect you against. Oops.
Why would the Israelites do something stupid like appointing a king over themselves, when people had warned them that it was a stupid idea? A king represents a huge convenience. People no longer have to take responsibility for their own wellbeing when a king is in charge. If things go badly, they can blame the king and pick a different one. If they go well, it proves that having a king is a good idea. They don't have to make their own decisions and risk being wrong. They don't have to seek God for things, because they've delegated that decision-making to the king. They can do whatever they want, and the king will take care of everything, as if he was God himself. Unfortunately, kings are not gods. They're messed up people just like us.
Things looked pretty good when Saul got selected. He was a good looking guy, strong and powerful, a bold leader, etc. When the Israelites were invaded, he took charge and led them to victory. He seemed humble, and was merciful to people who opposed him. The king thing was looking pretty good until Samuel delivered God's cursed message to the people. If you read further in the book of Samuel, you'll watch how Saul's image falls apart, and how his humanity comes to the surface. He's arrogant, cowardly, extremely selfish, unable to follow simple instructions, jealous, vengeful, etc. God knew that from the beginning, but the people didn't care. They wanted what they wanted, and that was it.
The people wanted the king so that they could no longer have to worry about being accountable for making decisions, but the curse on the wheat crop showed that that wasn't true at all. They were definitely accountable for their decision to choose a king, and the price for that sin was extremely high. Even with our diversified modern diet, if an army swept through the world and removed 1/5 of our food, we'd definitely notice it. People wanted to delegate their relationship with God to other people, but God found them and reintroduced himself anyway. Choosing a king was a stupid idea, no matter how you look at it.
The danger is that we still think like that today. We still choose fallible human leaders to rule over us, and ask them to make laws for us that may or may not represent God's will for our lives. We go to churches where we delegate prayer and the study of scripture to our pastoral staff. We establish authorities to tell us what to eat, what to think, who to trust, who to love and who to hate, all outside of our relationship with God. And then we wonder why things go poorly for us. We trust in things we make with our own hands, and we pledge our obedience to leaders we've made the same way. We weren't designed to live like that.
That's not to say that we shouldn't have authorities that we trust, or that we should stop obeying laws or paying taxes or any of that manifesto-writing nonsense. People have always had leaders, and the Bible urges us to follow obediently and not rock the boat, as far as that doesn't conflict with what God wants. The difference is that the main framework in our lives should come from God, with society's stuff as a supplement, not vice versa.
If we ignore God and refuse to make the decisions we're supposed to make, we're still accountable. If we delegate the study of scripture, the raising of our children as Christians, prayer, charity, and all of the other things that God directs us in, then we've abandoned God for whoever is doing them for us, and we're accountable for that. If all of your understanding of God comes from what your pastor says, then do you really have a relationship with God yourself? If you've exchanged quiet time for a podcast, or scripture study for a pre-printed daily devotional, you're no longer participating. You're delegating. That's dangerous.
If you look to see what happens after the curse, the people repent before Samuel. He tells them not to be afraid, and not to abandon God, even though they've sinned a lot. One of the great things about God that has always been true is that we always have "now" to repent and start again. If you've delegated your walk with God to others, now is a great time to undelegate it and reintroduce yourself to God. He has chosen us, and wants to relate to us directly, actively, and without interference.
Comments
Post a Comment