“When young men seek to be like you, when lazy men resent you, when powerful men look over their shoulder at you, when cowardly men plot behind your back, when corrupt men wish you were gone and evil men want you dead . . . Only then will you have done your share.”
-Phil Messina
I don’t know about you, but sometimes when it gets back to me that people have been talking about me, I can get pretty angry . . . even downright vengeful. As many of you know, I grew up a preacher’s kid. There are only a few short times in my life where my dad wasn’t the head pastor of a church. Let me tell you, when people know that you are the preacher’s kid, you are put under the microscope. More than once, I’ve had one of my dad’s parishioners snitch on me, “Hey did you know Jeremiah was doing this or that?”
This didn’t really affect me too much, though. My parents have always allowed me to defend my actions and to be honest. Most of the time I was doing something I shouldn’t have been doing anyway. However, what really bothered me was when someone in the church decided my dad shouldn’t be the pastor anymore, so they would start spreading rumors. These were always lies . . . or possibly gross over exaggerations.
God always gave my dad the grace and courage to confront these rumors head on. Not a single time was he forced to leave a church. However, they were not without effect. Kids would say things about me at school, and these situations always caused stress for my family. At 30 years old and several cities apart, I almost wasn’t hired for my first job because of one of these rumors.
So recently when I heard someone was spreading a completely false rumor about my family again, so much of my childhood came rushing back. Then very quickly after the thought of vengeance came, I’ll call it the Will Smith Syndrome came, “Take my name outta mouth.”
Young Lions
For a week, I struggled with feelings of anger. During that time a saying kept popping into my mind, “Lions don’t concern themselves with the opinions of sheep.” At first, I was like, “That’s right. I don’t care what they say. They don’t even know me.” Then one day while I was jogging, God started working on me, “It isn’t about you. It is about Me.” He brought to my mind some fellow disciples that we had done ministry with a few weeks ago.
These disciples have been called by God to minister to the parts of our community that are often overlooked. Every other Friday from 10PM to midnight (usually later), they stand on the corner and hand out food and pray with the homeless, the addicted, the less fortunate, and anybody else who will stop and listen. What is also amazing about them is that the majority of them are in recovery themselves.
One thing that I learned after working in substance abuse recovery for 9 years is that you can do pretty much anything you want in life, and people will overlook it. However, if you were a drug abuser, people will always look down on you or be waiting for your next relapse – no matter how long you’ve been in recovery. I know that many of these wonderful people that we were spreading God’s word with have had their names run through the mud.
I’m sure that whatever insults I have felt, pale in comparison to what they have experienced. Yet here they are, out on the corner doing God’s work. So, when I talk about lions, these disciples are exactly the ones that I’m talking about – the people who get up even when flawed, even when no one believes in them and do the work of the Kingdom. They also do this many times when they gain nothing from doing it other than the blessings of God.
The Lion
Your sole focus should be on pleasing God. It doesn’t matter what men say of you. What does God say of you? Do you know who He is? Do you call Him friend? When this life is over, and we account for all that has been done, will He say that you did a good job, that you were a faithful servant? Or will He tell you to leave, because He doesn’t know you? When everything is said and done, this is the only opinion that counts.
“Not every one that saith unto me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?’
And then will I profess unto them, ‘I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
– Matthew 7:21-23
The Sheep
The sheep are the people in your life who are more concerned with the cares of life than doing God’s work. They are more concerned with their standing in the community. They are more concerned with being liked by others. They are more concerned with their wealth, influence, or job. They are more concerned with being seen as normal or acceptable to others. They are more concerned with themselves than the Kingdom.
“He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.”
– John 12:25-26
Encouragement
To the disciples that we ministered with a few weeks ago, we at Sanctuary Family Farms want you to know that we see the work you do for the Kingdom. More importantly though, we want you to know that God sees the work that you do. If you fall into the category of a stagnated sheep Christian whose only commitment to Christ is on Sunday, we encourage you to get up and do. Pray about how God wants you to spread His love, then be courageous like a lion and do what He places on your heart.
Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.”
– Luke 6:26
– Written by Jeremiah
Meet the authors.
Listen to us discuss our blogs on our YouTube channel.
