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Mind Your Own Business!

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MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!

“Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who leaned against Jesus at the supper and said, ‘Lord, who is going to betray you?’).

“When Peter saw him, he asked, ‘Lord, what about him?’ Jesus answered, ‘If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.'” John 21:20-22.

What did Peter think this was, a little fortune-telling time? He had just been told what his future had in store for him and it wasn’t pretty. He was curious to know what was in store for John as well. In spite of everything that had happened, the old rivalry was still there, sitting just below the surface.

Don’t you love John’s honesty? He could have left this bit out. No one else reported on it. Peter, at least, could have told Mark and had it included in Mark’s gospel, except that it didn’t make Peter look good. Was John having a little dig at him? It could be, except that John was writing under inspiration of the Holy Spirit so we have to look for another reason for its inclusion.

John was eavesdropping on this exchange between Jesus and Peter, Perhaps Jesus had invited Peter to go for a little walk with Him after breakfast while the other disciples dealt with the fish. Instead, John took up his stance behind Jesus as a disciple should, except that he had not been invited to join them. Whatever the reason for him being there, he was listening to the conversation and Peter knew he was there.

There is a good reason why this incident was included in Scripture, although it seems a strange way for John to conclude his gospel. God has a strong opinion about people who meddle in other people’s affairs. What is it in human nature that prompts this rivalry, even among Jesus’ own disciples? And it’s no different today.

The Ten Commandments end with one that searches the heart. “You shall not covet.” The other nine commandments might be measurable — yes, I kept that one; no I didn’t keep that one — but how do I measure whether I have coveted or not? What does it mean to covet?

To covet means to compare myself with someone else and conclude that the other person has more than I have or better than I have. It is actually an inward expression of my discontentment with what God has given me and a judgment on Him for being unfair. Isn’t this where it all started in the Garden of Eden? God put a restriction on one tree in the garden and that tree became the focus of Eve’s discontent.

I think it was more than curiosity that prompted Peter’s question. He was not coveting anything that John had at that moment, but coveting starts with comparing. He wanted to compare his future with John’s to see whether John’s lot was better than his. Jesus quickly nipped that one in the bud.

This is an important lesson for every believer to learn. The undercurrents of competition are very real in the church and between church groups and even denominations. Strangely enough, the Bible puts busybodies together with murderers. Every person’s walk with the Lord is intensely personal. It is not our business to look around and compare ourselves with others or to want what others have or do.

What was to happen to John was none of Peter’s business and Jesus let him know it in no uncertain terms. Peter had only one responsibility and that was to keep his eyes on Jesus.

Paul could have said to him, as he wrote to the Roman church: “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.”  Romans 14:4.

To judge someone else, I have to set up a standard, myself, and then compare the other person with myself. Of course, in my opinion, he will fall short, and that will make me feel superior. If I am superior to the other person, why has God short-changed me? God must be at fault and therefore I degrade Him and lose confidence in Him. Isn’t that exactly what the devil wants?

There is only one antidote to this poison in our hearts. Mind our own business. It’s as simple as that!

Acknowledgement

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What Have I Done To Deserve This?

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WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS?

“Soon the whole city was in an uproar, people running from everywhere to the Temple to get in on the action. They grabbed Paul, dragged him outside, and locked the Temple gates so he couldn’t get back in and gain sanctuary.

“As they were trying to kill him, word came to the captain of the guard, ‘A riot! The whole city’s boiling over.’ He acted swiftly. His soldiers and centurions ran to the scene at once. As soon as the mob saw the captain and his soldiers, they quit beating Paul.” Acts 21:30-32 (The Message).

‘So where was God in all this?’ This is the first question we are likely to ask.

If Paul was God’s servant, carrying out all His instructions faithfully, why didn’t He protect him from this kind of trouble? Why did He allow Paul to go through all this, just to get him to Rome? Couldn’t he have just hopped on a ship and sailed there in peace?

Questions like these open up the age-old issue of suffering — why does God allow suffering? We all experience our own version of this universal problem, and there are probably as many solutions as there are experiences, but do they really give answers that satisfy?

The problem for believers is that the Bible itself does not give us an answer. It may address some peripheral issues like, for example, that we live in a fallen world; that Satan is the god of this world; that his intention is to kill, steal and destroy; that God has given human beings the freedom to choose and that people do bad things to each other and God does not interfere because we are not puppets.

But these do still do not answer the central issue: why does God allow these things to happen? Paul experienced God’s protection again and again during his travels in Europe and Asia Minor. When people rioted against him and tried to kill him, he escaped. God caused an earthquake to set him free from prison in Philippi. He raised him from the dead when he was stoned at Lystra. He survived hardships of many kinds, but now he was under arrest and in the hands of Roman soldiers. What next?

Apart from Jesus, Job probably suffered more than anyone whose story is recorded in Scripture. He went from being a fabulously wealthy man with a big family, a name and prestige in his community to a pathetic pauper sitting on an ash heap, ill and in pain, and not even a wife to comfort him because she had turned against him as well. It is quite natural that he would ask why.

His so-called friends didn’t help him either. They insisted that God had done this to him because he had secretly sinned, an accusation which Job vehemently denied. In all his ranting and railing, God said nothing. He allowed Job to get it all off his chest until he had nothing more to say. When He did finally answer him, God was angry. He didn’t speak gently to him; He came at him out of a storm!

What He had to say had nothing to do with Job’s demand to know why. He overwhelmed Job with the majesty of His power over nature. “‘Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.'” Job 38:4 (NIV). On and on He went until Job was struck dumb. What was the point of all this?

There is a sense in which God was telling Job that he was too puny to understand His ways. There is no answer to the question ‘Why?’ that we humans can grasp because God is painting His picture on a canvas as big as the universe itself. How can we possibly stand back far enough to see the whole scope of what He is doing?

The real issue is not ‘why are you doing this?’ but ‘what must I do in this situation?’ I can either become embittered, turn my back on God and never experience the grace He promised that sets me free from my emotional pain or I can trust Him because I know that He is a loving Father who is painting me into His big picture and will never do anything to harm or destroy me. It’s really my choice!