Special Sunday Edition
Ethan Barton, Pastoral Resident, Tallowood Baptist Church
It has very often been said that comparison is the thief of joy. It can be the thief of a lot of other things as well, including our relationship with God. That’s why when we get so caught up in how well other people are doing in their Christian walk and begin comparing theirs to our own, it actually gets in the way of our own relationships with God.
How often do we find ourselves comparing ourselves with other Christians? Peter faced a rebuke from Jesus, and so he tried to shift the focus to someone else. What about John, are you going to rebuke his shortcomings as well? We do this often. It’s very common for people who are facing an accusation to just retort back with another accusation, simply to avoid embarrassment, instead of actually learning from the rebuke. But when Peter does this, Jesus tells him his foremost worry should not be about John. His business is simply to follow Jesus. That’s John’s business too, for that matter, but it’s not Peter’s business to concern himself with that!
God’s Word still instructs us to encourage, rebuke, and build up one another. Part of following Jesus is ministering to his people well. But that is not the foremost part of our business. “You,” Jesus says to each one of us Christians, “must follow me.” That is our business. None of us are ever too old or too wise or too experienced to desperately need Christ leading us, regardless of what lot in life he has given us. In whatever circumstances and means we are given, we are to follow, obey, and glorify the Lord in the unique ways to which we are called. If others are called in different ways, what is it to us? We, for our part, must follow King Jesus!
