What Is That to You? You Follow Me!
7 comments | PermalinkSo I was refreshed by Jesus’ blunt word to me (and you): “What is that to you? You follow me!” Peter had just heard a very hard word. You will die—painfully. His first thought was comparison. What about John? If I have to suffer, will he have to suffer? If my ministry ends like that, will his end like that? If I don’t get to live a long life of fruitful ministry, will he get to?
That’s the way we sinners are wired. Compare. Compare. Compare. We crave to know how we stack up in comparison to others. There is some kind of high if we can just find someone less effective than we are. Ouch. To this day, I recall the little note posted by my Resident Assistant in Elliot Hall my senior year at Wheaton: “To love is to stop comparing.” What is that to you, Piper? Follow me.
- What is it to you that David Wells has such a comprehensive grasp of the pervasive effects of postmodernism? You follow me.
- What is it to you that Voddie Baucham speaks the gospel so powerfully without notes? You follow me.
- What is it to you that Tim Keller sees gospel connections with professional life so clearly? You follow me.
- What is it to you that Mark Driscoll has the language and the folly of pop culture at his fingertips? You follow me.
- What is it to you that Don Carson reads five hundred books a year and combines pastoral insight with the scholar’s depth and comprehensiveness? You follow me.
That word landed on me with great joy. Jesus will not judge me according to my superiority or inferiority over anybody. No preacher. No church. No ministry. These are not the standard. Jesus has a work for me to do (and a different one for you). It is not what he has given anyone else to do. There is a grace to do it. Will I trust him for that grace and do what he has given me to do? That is the question. O the liberty that comes when Jesus gets tough!
I hope you find encouragement and freedom today when you hear Jesus say to all your fretting comparisons: “What is that to you? You follow me!”
Learning to walk in freedom with you,
Pastor John
posted by JT at Saturday, October 07, 2006
7 Comments:
Justin, This penetrates deep into the cancer of jealousy that all too often infects my sinful heart. I need heavy doses of "biblical chemo" to repel this enemy within. Andree Seu once wrote, "Comparisons are odious." I had to look up the definition of "odious," but I think she hit it right on the head. Piper's article was a timely and refreshing reminder. Thanks for posting it.
Thanks for this. It is all too easy to come away from these conferences discouraged rather than encouraged, which should be the aim.
to me this says some thing else having just read mark driscolis book(confeshions of a reformation rev) and desiring to be apart of a work of god in our locality it is easy to try and copy what other leaders who we would aspire to have done ,in fact driscoll says in his book that he was running around checking out what others were doing when he felt that what he needed to do was find out what god wanted him to do , which to me is what we should all be seeking
You would think with someone like Piper that surely he wouldn't struggle with comparison: He's John Piper for heaven's sake! I knew of more good meditations such as this one to help me and others combat the sin of jealousy in comparison. Being in seminary, I find this problem only intensified because I'm always under a man you would want to imitate (including Carson). Let's remember 1 Cor. 15:10: "By the grace of God, I am who I am."
thanks JT...this small town student pastor needed that...
What a great word! Thanks for posting it.
While I whole heartedly agree with Piper (and it helps do surgery on this issue in my own heart), I must say we have to be careful how to apply this. In an appropriate attempt to not compare our graces, gifts, etc. to others - we must be sure that all imitation is not shunned. I'd like to respond particularly to nigel's comment, which reads:
"desiring to be apart of a work of god in our locality it is easy to try and copy what other leaders who we would aspire to have done, in fact driscoll says in his book that he was running around checking out what others were doing when he felt that what he needed to do was find out what god wanted him to do , which to me is what we should all be seeking"
Now, this isn't to say what nigel meant is what I'm about to address, but there is a danger in the mentality of his quote that should be pointed out. I.e., while I don't want to compare the sucess or particular giftedness of another minister with myself - I don't necessarily think "what God wants me to do" is novel and distinct from what God wants another to do (though my personal graces and gifts my be different). Pastors and churches are working off the same Bible and the same texts that teach what the church is supposed to be and do.
We have to beware of the novelty of "being/doing what God has called me to be". Because of the desire for novelty in ministry, the church is despersed into every kind of "ministry" you can imagine. Everyone is seeking after a particular "calling" or "ministry" (which for many amounts to spiritual nomenclature for a business or entrepreneurial venture). What I want to do is be about Christ's business of building His church. So to do so, I must follow the design given in Scripture. And if in following that design, my ministry happens to look like Pipers, MacArthurs, Devers, etc. in the process - so what. I would love to observe the ministries of these men and imitate what I see their church is doing that aligns with biblical mandates and methods. So many people are trying so hard to be different (in order to be "sucessful"), they begin to move away from God's blueprint of building the church (Acts 2:42-47; Eph 4:11-16) and in doing so their ministry subtly becomes, in the idellible words of Uncle Screwtape, "Christianity And". (E.g., Christianity and multicuturalism, Christianity and Seeker Sensitivity, Christianity and Relevancy, Christianity and a greater movement of the Spirit, Christianity and social justice, etc., etc.)
In God's providence, the setting I'm placed in may give particular focus to who I minister to, and in someways how. But, in the core, how I minister to them is going to be much of the same as how another truly word-driven church ministers to their people. If I would pastor my own church, I would love my church to look like the church I attend now and the biblically sound ministries of those I mentioned earlier.
We certainly don't want to covet another man's gift in a sinful way or try to exercie some gift we don't posses or imitate someone's personality. But, what God has truly called us all to, in a very essential way, is a "copy cat" ministry (Phil 4:9, 2 Tim 2:2). Novelty always ends up in mixing some form of error or distracting hobbie horse in our ministry. We have to beware of it.
Q
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