(A guest devotion by my brother Chris)
Letting your leader
lead. (Life in the passenger’s seat)
A study on Mark 8:34-37.
The Message translation states it this way:
34-37
Calling the crowd to join His disciples He said “Anyone who intends to come
with Me has to let Me lead. You’re not
in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run
from suffering; embrace it. Follow Me
and I’ll show you how. Self-help is not
help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way,
My way, to saving yourself, your true self.
What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real
you? What could you ever trade your soul
for?”
The NIV reads like this:
34
Then He called the crowd to Him along with His disciples and said: “Whoever
wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow
Me. 35 For whoever wants to save their
life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me and for the Gospel will
save it. 36 What good is it for someone
to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their
soul?”
When you read through either translation of this section of
Mark, it’s relatively easy to understand that Jesus is making it clear that we
cannot follow Him AND the world. If we
choose to follow Him, it is all or nothing.
While we all fall short in this over and over again, the
directive is a simple one, and easily understood. But the wording in The Message translation
helped me to relate this to my daily life and to those whom God has placed in
positions of leadership over me.
“Anyone
who intends to come with Me has to let Me lead.
You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am.”
Imagine these words spoken by your supervisor at work, your
Pastor, President of the congregation or Deacon at church, the coach of you or your child’s sports team
or perhaps even the elected and appointed officials in your city, county, state
and/or country. Would you respectfully submit to their
directive and follow as requested? Do
you? I know that I don’t.
When challenged by my supervisors, at work especially, I
tend to get all bent out of shape, emotional and disgruntled. Who do they think they are? Are my ideas not good enough? Don’t they understand the wealth of
experience and knowledge that I possess?
See what I’m doing? It’s not about
God’s command to respect and follow the leaders he’s put in place in my life;
It’s all about me.
The Message translation goes on to say “Self-help is not help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, My way, to saving
yourself, your true self.” Any lingering doubt what is meant here? It’s not about me! I’m not intended to always be in charge. The people that God places in power over me
are to be respected, trusted and followed.
It is NOT God’s directive that I undermine, gossip, second guess and
challenge my leaders just because I feel I’m not being taken seriously or
valued or appreciated. This is not to
say that I am to allow bad leaders to take advantage of me either, but the
command is clear; I am to let my leaders lead.
I am to ensure that the words I say and the actions I undertake are in
harmony with each other, clearly pointing to my support of my leader(s).
In verse
36 (taken from the NIV because I just
love the way it reads) it says “What good is
it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?“ This is the clear
consequence defined for us if we choose NOT to let Jesus lead, but perhaps this
is why we so often fail to follow our leaders here on earth. There’s no similarly dire outcome defined for
our failure to trust the leaders God has appointed over us. We allow our sinful nature to rationalize
that “respect has to be earned, “ or “my fervent disagreements with that
leader’s (insert your pet difference here), justify my rebellion.”
But we’re
wrong. Satan has deceived us yet again.
Our leaders here on earth ARE deserving of our
respect, even before it’s earned.
Our leaders,
sinful, flawed and failed just as we are, should be given our trust, our
loyalty, our best efforts and most importantly, prayers.
We pray, dear Jesus, Author of my
faith and one true leader. Help and
guide me first to fully trust, follow and obey you as you have commanded. Also dear Lord and Savior, bolster my will
and ability to willingly, joyfully and
graciously follow my earthly leaders.
Remind me to pray for them daily, to give thanks for the challenges and
opportunities that they place before me, and to share your love with them in my
thoughts, words and actions. Help me to curb my tongue when I am inspired
to speak ill of them, to question their motives or to engage in gossip. Give me the strength, courage and words
needed to address any concerns I have directly with my leader in a respectful,
professional and God pleasing way.
Finally Lord, I ask that you help me to accept the decisions of those
who lead me with a gracious, open and accepting heart.
In your name we pray, Amen.
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