There can't be only one
This week's goodness rolls all the way back to the Old Testament: 1 Kings 19:13-18:
Elijah, the world's greatest prophet of his time, was having a rough time. He was tasked with saving Israel, but Israel was hell-bent on killing him and every religious person he knew. There was a price on his head, and the government already had an army out looking for him. He ran for his life, and hid out in a cave. He and God finally had a conversation, which are the verses we have this week.
Elijah was convinced it was only him against the depraved homicidal nation he was sent to save. God's response, summarized, was "There are thousands of you, and you've got work to do. Get moving." It's easy to think we're the only ones doing the work, or the only people left in our area who are serious about our Christianity. But that is a dangerous misconception.
Not only did God have two warriors and a prophet lined up, but there were seven thousand other strong believers in Israel. Elijah was far from alone. And almost as if to prove it, God's instructions to him were to go out and meet these people, and pronounce God's approval over them.
The "we're the only ones" misconception comes from not getting out enough. Cults fall into that self-deception. Denominations spring from it. And, as Elijah found out, persecution stings more when you think you're the only one getting whipped. Elijah was so busy running that he didn't realize others were being hunted with him, or that he was only a small part of something much bigger.
What if Elijah had said to God "I can't anoint these people as kings. I don't know anything about them. And I'm sure they don't hear from you like I do, so why shouldn't I be king?" What if he decided not to train Elisha, in the hopes that it would keep him from getting killed and replaced? When we allow ourselves to get insular, to decide that no church is good enough for us, or no Christian company is as righteous as the company we already keep, we're potentially doing just as much harm as Elijah's actions would have done, had he not gone back out of that cave.
As it turns out, Elijah and Elisha's visits to these men are what set things in motion for Ahab and Jezebel's downfall. It wasn't Elijah who struck down the wicked king and led the coup, it was the king he'd anointed over Aram, and Jehu, the warrior he'd anointed. Had Elijah not seen value in these other people, Israel would have remained under wicked rule, and Elijah and many others would probably have been eventually killed.
God has lots of people doing his work here on Earth. It is good for us to get to know them, and to hear what he's doing with them. Our job is to get out into the world, not remain in the cave waiting to die. We're not in this alone.
When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”
Elijah, the world's greatest prophet of his time, was having a rough time. He was tasked with saving Israel, but Israel was hell-bent on killing him and every religious person he knew. There was a price on his head, and the government already had an army out looking for him. He ran for his life, and hid out in a cave. He and God finally had a conversation, which are the verses we have this week.
Elijah was convinced it was only him against the depraved homicidal nation he was sent to save. God's response, summarized, was "There are thousands of you, and you've got work to do. Get moving." It's easy to think we're the only ones doing the work, or the only people left in our area who are serious about our Christianity. But that is a dangerous misconception.
Not only did God have two warriors and a prophet lined up, but there were seven thousand other strong believers in Israel. Elijah was far from alone. And almost as if to prove it, God's instructions to him were to go out and meet these people, and pronounce God's approval over them.
The "we're the only ones" misconception comes from not getting out enough. Cults fall into that self-deception. Denominations spring from it. And, as Elijah found out, persecution stings more when you think you're the only one getting whipped. Elijah was so busy running that he didn't realize others were being hunted with him, or that he was only a small part of something much bigger.
What if Elijah had said to God "I can't anoint these people as kings. I don't know anything about them. And I'm sure they don't hear from you like I do, so why shouldn't I be king?" What if he decided not to train Elisha, in the hopes that it would keep him from getting killed and replaced? When we allow ourselves to get insular, to decide that no church is good enough for us, or no Christian company is as righteous as the company we already keep, we're potentially doing just as much harm as Elijah's actions would have done, had he not gone back out of that cave.
As it turns out, Elijah and Elisha's visits to these men are what set things in motion for Ahab and Jezebel's downfall. It wasn't Elijah who struck down the wicked king and led the coup, it was the king he'd anointed over Aram, and Jehu, the warrior he'd anointed. Had Elijah not seen value in these other people, Israel would have remained under wicked rule, and Elijah and many others would probably have been eventually killed.
God has lots of people doing his work here on Earth. It is good for us to get to know them, and to hear what he's doing with them. Our job is to get out into the world, not remain in the cave waiting to die. We're not in this alone.
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