Choose To Be A Servant: Example of Nebuchadnezzar

Posted on June 1, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

Unwilling Servant

In Jeremiah 27:6, Nebuchadnezzar is referred to as a servant of Jehovah. There is a sense that every world leader is a servant of the God who allows that leader to rise to power. Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.” There was nothing that Nebuchadnezzar could do to thwart God’s plan for history.

Willing Servant

There is another sense in which Nebuchadnezzar became the servant of Jehovah. In Daniel 4:28-37 we see the story of Nebuchadnezzar’s fall and restoration.

Nebuchadnezzar had been an eyewitness to several miracles, yet he remained proud and self-reliant. In this section of Daniel 4 we see that God reduced him from his throne to eating grass in the field like a wild animal. Nebuchadnezzar was taken from being arguably the most powerful man in the world to a homeless madman. This transition is like going from the White House to living in a cardboard box under a bridge. He went from top to bottom in an instant.

In God’s sovereignty and grace, this was not the end of the story for Nebuchadnezzar. When the former king blessed “the Most High” his reason returned to him and he was restored to the throne, but with a new heart and a new attitude. Nebuchadnezzar proclaims this about the God who lives forever in Daniel 4:34-35:

for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

We are not told much more about Nebuchadnezzar’s reign from that point on, but my guess is that it was very different than before his humiliation.

Willingly or Unwillingly All Will Bow

We are told in Isaiah 45:23, Romans 14:11 and Philippians 2:10 – Every knee shall eventually bow before the throne of God. The only choice in the matter is if we will do it willingly or unwillingly.

In his sovereignty, God allows circumstances into our lives which overwhelm us. Life does not always treat us fairly; things do not always turn out the way we would like. This often is perceived as bad news, but when we respond properly, it can be transformed into good news.

The circumstances become good news when God uses them in our lives to remind us that we are not in control and that we do not have all the answers. God give us the opportunity to turn to him, bow our knees and submit.

God, in his grace, humbled Nebuchadnezzar in his lifetime so that he would choose to bend the knee before it was too late. Nebuchadnezzar chose well at the end. May we do the same when faced with difficulties.

Hugging Porcupines and Other Ostensibly Stupid Behaviors

Posted on May 28, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre 2 Comments

The Porcupines Among Us

Every church has one or more porcupines in attendance. The porcupine is the person who feels entitled to stand in judgment of the church and often acts in a way that is disruptive to body life through their sense of superiority and entitlement. They are not in open hostility, nor are they doing anything worthy of church discipline, yet they cause problems as a result of their prickly nature.

Dealing with Porcupines

The best response to a porcupine in the wild is to leave it alone and hope it goes away. While we might want our church porcupines to do just that, often they do not. How then are we to respond to the porcupines that refuse to go away?

While the porcupines in our church are not really enemies, Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5:38-48 is instructive for dealing with them. Jesus tells us to do some things to our enemies that most people would think are weird or just plain stupid. In response to our enemies, we are called to:

Turn the other cheek
Give more than is asked
Go the extra mile
Love our enemies
Pray for those who persecute us
Greet your enemies (be friendly)
Do all these things perfectly

If this is the response to enemies that are dangerous, what then is the response to the porcupines who are merely annoying? I think that we are to embrace them and welcome them. The problem is that when you hug a porcupine, you’re going to feel the pain of the barbs. Many or most of the barbs will be aimed at church leadership, the very people who are trying to help. It is easy to give up and avoid the porcupine, but that is really not an option.

If we wonder about the wisdom of this, I think that it is instructive to look at Jesus’ interaction with the disciples. They were often slow on the uptake and occasionally abrasive. Jesus did not loose patience with them even when they displayed their worst behavior.

The Benefit of Porcupines

I think that God gives us porcupines for the same reason he gave Paul his thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7). Without the porcupines, we might loose sight of the fact of our dependence upon God. We might start believing that we have mastered church leadership. We might start relying on our abilities rather than on our Savior.

While we may not really enjoy porcupines, we can rest in the knowledge that God has them there for a purpose and we cannot see the end result. As with the disciples, many church leaders began their Christian walk as porcupines. So do not loose hope. God is not done with the porcupines or us as leaders.

Moses as Leader – Do the right thing even when it’s not appreciated

Posted on May 22, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre 4 Comments

Moses as Leader – The Story

Moses is up on the mountain receiving the law from God. Meanwhile, down in the valley, the people of Israel have built and are

worshiping a golden idol. Before they have even received the law, the people have broken the first two commandments.

In response to this, Exodus 32:7-10 records that God proposed a plan to wipe out the nation of Israel and start over with Moses as the patriarch of a new nation. Warren Wiersbe, in his book, Becoming a Servant of God, points out the significance of this offer. From a

human perspective, it doesn’t get any better than becoming the father of a whole nation. By anyone’s standard, this would be a significant honor and achievement.

But look at how Moses responds. Instead of taking God up on the offer, he begins pleading for the nation of Israel. He intercedes on their behalf, even while the nation is still in party mode and not ready to acknowledge their error.

Moses as Leader – The Principle

As the title of this post indicates, the principle is that leaders do the best thing for their people even when the people do not know or appreciate what is being done.

From a human perspective, what did Moses get from this transaction? He got 40 more years of whining and aggravation from the people, he got his leadership challenged, he got overworked and died in the wilderness without a permanent home.

From an eternal perspective, Moses deepened his relationship with God, secured a significant place in God’s program and died knowing that he had done the right thing for the people that God called him to lead and to serve.

At the foundation of Moses’ ability to serve his people was his relationship with God. It was this relationship that provided the understanding that God is the source of the responsibility and the privilege of leading the people. When things got tough, Moses took his cues from his Heavenly Father.

Moses as Leader – The Application

In our society, examples abound of leaders who abuse the privilege of their position. Decisions are made which provide wealth and security of the leader and those in his social circle. We can find examples in commercial enterprises and politics.

Our society is crying out for leaders who will lead for the benefit of the people below them on the organization chart. Thankfully, there are some leaders who do this, but not enough.

We see CEO’s making millions of dollars while laying off significant numbers of people. We see politicians leveraging future generations by spending money that they don’t have. Read the news headlines on any giving morning and you will find at least one example of the abuse of power.

Sadly, the visible church is not exempt from this behavior. We have seen decisions made in church organizations that are contrary to clear Scriptural teaching, all because of pressure from the outside or an attempt to swell the numbers in the auditorium.

To church leaders I offer this encouragement. If you are first-and-foremost tuned into God through prayer and Scripture reading, you will lead well and for the benefit of those you lead. Your people need you to have this relationship because like the people of Israel, the greatest need is to hear from God. We have the advantage of the written word, so read the word, live the word and preach the word.

As to those days when you are frustrated by the people you lead I offer this. God sees and he will be your refuge and strength.

Stand firm in that knowledge.

What is behind the popularity of Harold Camping?

Posted on May 20, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre 1 Comment

Harold Camping and May 21

As many people know, Harold Camping has predicted that the rapture will happen on May 21. I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that I will be writing a post the morning of May 22 thanking God for another day.

My purpose here is not to catalog a list of reasons why Mr. Camping is wrong. Others better qualified than I have done this. Many blogs and web sites have pointed out the errors in Mr. Camping’s methodology and Biblical interpretation.

Nor is my purpose here to catalog the teaching of Scripture on the Rapture. Again, others with greater ability have done this well. I can contribute little to the discussion.

My purpose here is to ask several questions which come to mind as I reflect on this prediction. I welcome your thoughts in response to these questions:

What is the driving force behind date setting?
Second, why are so many people believing this?
Is Camping providing an illegitimate satisfaction of a legitimate need?

What is the driving force?

Why is it that people feel the need to predict prophetic events? What is it in humans that causes us to crave this type of knowledge?

The thought strikes me that this goes back to the very first sin. In the Garden, we attempted to seize control of our own destiny, chosing to disobey in an attempt to become like God. In our fallen state, we desire knowledge that is reserved for God.

Pride plays a large role in this. Jesus tells us that no man knows the hour, it seems to me that it takes a large measure of pride to go against this statement and set a date.

The opposite of this is trust in God. This is the lesson of manna, a lesson that I find necessary to relearn often. If I am living in fellowship with God, if I am living in dependence upon him, if I am living as if Jesus can return at any moment, then I do not have to know when he will return. If I do these things, I will be ready.

Why are many so easily led astray?

Some are led astray because they want to have the inside track, they want the knowledge that will get them ahead of the people around them. Again, I would point to pride. If I have knowledge that others do not have, I can feel superior to them.

Another factor is the lack of Biblical teaching emanating from many pulpits in America. If the entire Bible was taught and pastors took seriously the call of God to “equip the saints for the work of ministry” (Ephesians 4:12), then there would be fewer people duped by false teachers.

Is there a legitimate need behind this?

I think that there is a legitimate need behind this phenomenon. That need is to be certain of our standing before God. The good news is that we can be assured of good standing with God without setting dates or other false assurances.

Romans 10:9-13 tells us that everyone who calls on the name of Jesus will be saved. Jesus himself tells us that he is the way to God (John 14:6). Through a relationship with Jesus Christ, we can be assured of our standing with God.

As a result, we don’t need date-setters or others who promise secret knowledge. We only need Jesus.

Last Thought

Jesus promised to prepare a place for us (John 14:2-3). When the time is right, he will return to take us there. I trust him to know the proper time – whenever it happens, it will be fantastic.