Leadership exam
Hey all,
This week's goodness is on Matthew 4:1-11:
I find it interesting that the temptation of Christ took place right before he began attracting disciples and preaching in the land. It's like it was a proving ground to show he was worthy of leadership. Each of the temptations seems to correspond to a danger of leadership. I've seen Christians fall in each of these areas.
Jesus was asked to turn stone into bread. It's easy to justify, except that Jesus' authority wasn't given to him to feed himself, but to feed others. He had to get bread the old fashioned way, same as everyone else. If he changed the rock into the bread, he'd be twisting God's reality to serve himself, making himself a special case.
We get tempted by similar things. Maybe we want to turn the people we serve into our servants. Maybe we want to turn our counselees into lovers. Maybe we want to turn a tithe surplus into a few extra things for ourselves. I've heard all kinds of justifications. "I work hard, so I deserve it." "I was going to pay it back." "It would have happened anyway." "It helped me be a more effective minister in other areas." This is probably one of the most dangerous temptations, because it is so subtle -- so sweet and innocent when it's whispered into our ears. "It's only a useless rock. It's just going to sit there if I don't use it." "It's only a piece of bread; who is going to deny me that?"
This is another classic lie of Satan: "Go ahead and fall. Jesus will save you." In Jesus' case, it was falling off of a tall building. In our case, it might be falling into adultery, blasphemy, thievery, sloth, etc. It's Satan taking a truth ("you're covered") and making it into a lie ("nobody gets hurt.")
Just as it's easy to be careless with someone else's money, it's easy to be careless with someone else's sacrifice. Just as you shouldn't turn charity into a credit card, you shouldn't turn grace into an enticement to sin. There's a difference between bailing out an honest mistake and funding a destructive lifestyle. People who confuse the two often end up disappointed.
Satan is always offering us shortcuts. He knows Jesus wants to reach the world, so he offers to let his influence go, in exchange for being worshiped. Satan isn't worthy of worship. In our case, it's something offered in compromise as a replacement for serving God. Maybe instead of worshiping with music, you'll just focus on it sounding nice and being easy to sing to. Maybe instead of writing a challenging message, you'll just focus on getting more tithe dollars into the storehouse for missions. Maybe instead of challenging people to grow, you'll try to build numbers instead, so you can win the "biggest megachurch" contest and get on the cover of some magazine. Maybe instead of going to feed the poor yourself, you'll just pay a couple other people to go do it for you, so you don't have to get your hands dirty.
They're little compromises, and often presented as totally justifiable, except that they defeat the purpose of doing whatever it is they're intended to help do. What good is salt that isn't salty? What good is killing the village in order to save it? Satan says "I'll help you get where you're going, but first I'll need you to do a little something for me." We don't need to do business with Satan. We have Jesus.
Look at the proposition: Satan offered the whole world in exchange for a moment of the worship he'll eternally be denied. The world, even to this day, doesn't fully belong to Christ, two thousand years after Satan made his offer. Imagine yourself in Jesus' position, knowing that all you'd have to do is kneel down for a second and say "Dude, you're awesome!" and you'd save a couple millennia of work, bloodshed, and misery. You could always retract it later. If your principles were weak, that would seem like a fantastic deal! Jesus' principles are anything but weak, though. Nobody is worthy of worship but God only. No man, no spirit, no snake, and no thing comes close enough to deserve it.
Jesus passed an extraordinarily difficult test. As we follow him, we should be able to pass the same sorts of challenges. As leaders, we should be able to be trusted with people and things without using our authority to embezzle. We should be able to make decisions not to sin, even though we know we are forgiven if we do. And we should not be willing to compromise on things that are important. Doing so gives worship to whoever it is we've allowed to override God's instructions to us. Pray for these character strengths. Jesus said we'd be able to do what he did and more. We don't want to corrupt what we're trusted with, squander what we're given, and work against the giver.
This week's goodness is on Matthew 4:1-11:
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘People do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
I find it interesting that the temptation of Christ took place right before he began attracting disciples and preaching in the land. It's like it was a proving ground to show he was worthy of leadership. Each of the temptations seems to correspond to a danger of leadership. I've seen Christians fall in each of these areas.
Perverting what has been placed under your authority to suit your own needs.
Jesus was asked to turn stone into bread. It's easy to justify, except that Jesus' authority wasn't given to him to feed himself, but to feed others. He had to get bread the old fashioned way, same as everyone else. If he changed the rock into the bread, he'd be twisting God's reality to serve himself, making himself a special case.
We get tempted by similar things. Maybe we want to turn the people we serve into our servants. Maybe we want to turn our counselees into lovers. Maybe we want to turn a tithe surplus into a few extra things for ourselves. I've heard all kinds of justifications. "I work hard, so I deserve it." "I was going to pay it back." "It would have happened anyway." "It helped me be a more effective minister in other areas." This is probably one of the most dangerous temptations, because it is so subtle -- so sweet and innocent when it's whispered into our ears. "It's only a useless rock. It's just going to sit there if I don't use it." "It's only a piece of bread; who is going to deny me that?"
Believing you are invincible, and treating grace as obligation.
This is another classic lie of Satan: "Go ahead and fall. Jesus will save you." In Jesus' case, it was falling off of a tall building. In our case, it might be falling into adultery, blasphemy, thievery, sloth, etc. It's Satan taking a truth ("you're covered") and making it into a lie ("nobody gets hurt.")
Just as it's easy to be careless with someone else's money, it's easy to be careless with someone else's sacrifice. Just as you shouldn't turn charity into a credit card, you shouldn't turn grace into an enticement to sin. There's a difference between bailing out an honest mistake and funding a destructive lifestyle. People who confuse the two often end up disappointed.
Making deals with Satan in exchange for fabulous prizes.
Satan is always offering us shortcuts. He knows Jesus wants to reach the world, so he offers to let his influence go, in exchange for being worshiped. Satan isn't worthy of worship. In our case, it's something offered in compromise as a replacement for serving God. Maybe instead of worshiping with music, you'll just focus on it sounding nice and being easy to sing to. Maybe instead of writing a challenging message, you'll just focus on getting more tithe dollars into the storehouse for missions. Maybe instead of challenging people to grow, you'll try to build numbers instead, so you can win the "biggest megachurch" contest and get on the cover of some magazine. Maybe instead of going to feed the poor yourself, you'll just pay a couple other people to go do it for you, so you don't have to get your hands dirty.
They're little compromises, and often presented as totally justifiable, except that they defeat the purpose of doing whatever it is they're intended to help do. What good is salt that isn't salty? What good is killing the village in order to save it? Satan says "I'll help you get where you're going, but first I'll need you to do a little something for me." We don't need to do business with Satan. We have Jesus.
Look at the proposition: Satan offered the whole world in exchange for a moment of the worship he'll eternally be denied. The world, even to this day, doesn't fully belong to Christ, two thousand years after Satan made his offer. Imagine yourself in Jesus' position, knowing that all you'd have to do is kneel down for a second and say "Dude, you're awesome!" and you'd save a couple millennia of work, bloodshed, and misery. You could always retract it later. If your principles were weak, that would seem like a fantastic deal! Jesus' principles are anything but weak, though. Nobody is worthy of worship but God only. No man, no spirit, no snake, and no thing comes close enough to deserve it.
Jesus passed an extraordinarily difficult test. As we follow him, we should be able to pass the same sorts of challenges. As leaders, we should be able to be trusted with people and things without using our authority to embezzle. We should be able to make decisions not to sin, even though we know we are forgiven if we do. And we should not be willing to compromise on things that are important. Doing so gives worship to whoever it is we've allowed to override God's instructions to us. Pray for these character strengths. Jesus said we'd be able to do what he did and more. We don't want to corrupt what we're trusted with, squander what we're given, and work against the giver.
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