No Job Too Small. No Job Too Big.
On the presidential drama The West Wing, President Bartlett is maneuvered into offering the vice presidency to a relatively obscure, inoffensive congressman. When the backbencher resists, the president vents his frustration a little by asking acidly, how can we sweeten the offer for you?
I think of that exchange as I formulate my mental after action report on the life of Gideon, the subject of weekend men's retreat in which I participated. By the opening of the eighth chapter in the Bible's book of Judges, we have followed Gideon through his own faith journey. God called him to rally and deliver the nation, overcame Gideon's resistance, and the results are evident. Through the efforts of Gideon and 300 select soldiers chosen by God, the enemy who once seemed invulnerable is on the run. The culture is changing. Now that Gideon and his handful of men have taken the initial risk, recruiting should be easy, right?
Not quite. When Gideon asks for help in pursuit, the men of Ephraim resist and resent that they didn't get a bigger role. When Gideon asks for help in the form of sustenance for his army a few verses later, this time he is resisted because of the risk involved. The job is too big. The job is too small. Call us, Gideon, call us, God, call us family or employment obligations, when you have the Goldilocks job that's just right.
Even when we get an opportunity to serve to which we feel we are called, read usually one that does not involve change or risk on our part, we often find an additional out in the vicinity of Gideon's replies. The first time, when persuading Ephraim, Gideon is amazingly tactful. He affirms what those he would persuade to help already have to offer. Flattered, they fall in line. Rebuffed in his next need, Gideon is not so diplomatic. His irritated directness would certainly violate our culture's sensitivity toward micro abrasions.
How often do we fail to honor the norms of a culture or the expectations of a job or ministry opportunity because we don't like the way we were asked? Even when the Gideons get it right, when the harried entrepreneurs of culture we serve under slow down their thinking enough to offer gracious affirmation, this can inflate our sense of entitlement. Last time you asked me this way, or, Boss, you were nicer to my coworker when you asked him or asked her last week. We resist getting involved, or at least giving our whole hearts to an effort, because the offer hasn't been sweetened enough for us.
Having this aspect of Christ's righteousness increasingly evident in us within the complicated constellation of family, church, and employment organizations can offer a great deal of freedom. We can undertake the small jobs He invites us to finish with the initiating enthusiasm. What was, for instance, the shouted need of one blind beggar compared to the cosmic business on Christ's mind as He approached the cross, and yet no opportunity to demonstrate His glory is deemed too small.
When the job we are asked to do involves the possibility of failure or scandal that would wound our pride, we can consciously follow Him Who made Himself of no reputation, willingly taking on the role of a despised Servant. In place of sifting through what is requested of us to find reason for offense, we can instead use potential differences in interactions to look to the bigger picture. When the opportunity presented itself, Christ even agreed with the religious authorities who so often opposed Him, for instance on their teaching that Elijah must precede John the Baptist. In actively looking to serve in the big and the small, in actively looking to find grounds for agreement, Christians find our peace in Christ rather than in the format of a human request.
I think of that exchange as I formulate my mental after action report on the life of Gideon, the subject of weekend men's retreat in which I participated. By the opening of the eighth chapter in the Bible's book of Judges, we have followed Gideon through his own faith journey. God called him to rally and deliver the nation, overcame Gideon's resistance, and the results are evident. Through the efforts of Gideon and 300 select soldiers chosen by God, the enemy who once seemed invulnerable is on the run. The culture is changing. Now that Gideon and his handful of men have taken the initial risk, recruiting should be easy, right?
Not quite. When Gideon asks for help in pursuit, the men of Ephraim resist and resent that they didn't get a bigger role. When Gideon asks for help in the form of sustenance for his army a few verses later, this time he is resisted because of the risk involved. The job is too big. The job is too small. Call us, Gideon, call us, God, call us family or employment obligations, when you have the Goldilocks job that's just right.
Even when we get an opportunity to serve to which we feel we are called, read usually one that does not involve change or risk on our part, we often find an additional out in the vicinity of Gideon's replies. The first time, when persuading Ephraim, Gideon is amazingly tactful. He affirms what those he would persuade to help already have to offer. Flattered, they fall in line. Rebuffed in his next need, Gideon is not so diplomatic. His irritated directness would certainly violate our culture's sensitivity toward micro abrasions.
How often do we fail to honor the norms of a culture or the expectations of a job or ministry opportunity because we don't like the way we were asked? Even when the Gideons get it right, when the harried entrepreneurs of culture we serve under slow down their thinking enough to offer gracious affirmation, this can inflate our sense of entitlement. Last time you asked me this way, or, Boss, you were nicer to my coworker when you asked him or asked her last week. We resist getting involved, or at least giving our whole hearts to an effort, because the offer hasn't been sweetened enough for us.
Having this aspect of Christ's righteousness increasingly evident in us within the complicated constellation of family, church, and employment organizations can offer a great deal of freedom. We can undertake the small jobs He invites us to finish with the initiating enthusiasm. What was, for instance, the shouted need of one blind beggar compared to the cosmic business on Christ's mind as He approached the cross, and yet no opportunity to demonstrate His glory is deemed too small.
When the job we are asked to do involves the possibility of failure or scandal that would wound our pride, we can consciously follow Him Who made Himself of no reputation, willingly taking on the role of a despised Servant. In place of sifting through what is requested of us to find reason for offense, we can instead use potential differences in interactions to look to the bigger picture. When the opportunity presented itself, Christ even agreed with the religious authorities who so often opposed Him, for instance on their teaching that Elijah must precede John the Baptist. In actively looking to serve in the big and the small, in actively looking to find grounds for agreement, Christians find our peace in Christ rather than in the format of a human request.
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