Israel’s first two kings neither sought nor expected their royal selection. Both Saul and David were young when designated; both were big, strong, handsome men. There is quite a bit of superficial similarity between them; but one understood the commitment required of the “Lord’s anointed,” and the other did not. This contrast between them shows up in many ways:
- Saul tried to kill David without cause, but David refused to kill Saul when he had the chance, even though some argued he had the justification.
- Saul was concerned about being honored in the sight of the people, but David stripped off his royal garments and danced with the common people in celebration of the Lord’s goodness to Israel.
- When Samuel was delayed a clay, Saul couldn’t wait. He took things into his own hands. David endured unjust persecution for years, confident that in the end, the Lord would establish what was right.
- Saul gave his word not to harm David, but discarded his oath in the heat of his jealousy. David always honored his word.
- Saul was a complete spiritual failure. He was willfully disobedient. When he failed, he blamed others. He ended up with a desperate last-ditch resort to the occult. David was not flawless, but he became an example we still look to because he lived up to what he was called to do; he kept his commitments; and when he failed, he turned to the Lord to seek forgiveness.
The lives of these two men are surely set side by side for the express purpose of directing our attention to the contrast between them. They are especially powerful examples for us because we are able to follow their lives to the end. The consequences of living up to the commitment to be the Lord’s anointed, or failing to, are plain to see. Saul ended up just one more body among the host of slain; David’s throne was established forever.
Our calling
Like each of these men, we have received a call to royal service — a holy anointing. We prefer not to think about it, but there are times when we resemble Saul more than David. We seek the honor of men, we are impatient; we take things into our own hands; we seek revenge (even if not as violently). We give our word, but then fail to follow through.
Why do we fail to live up to our commitments? At bottom, I think it’s because we believe our faith is an add-on to our life instead of a replacement of our life. Reread Philippians 3:7-17 for the apostle Paul’s perspective. The nature of our commitment in Christ is that our whole prior life is discarded!
The brothers with Paul near the end of his life illustrate two ways of failing to live up to this commitment: “Do your best to come to me soon. For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Luke alone is with me…At my first defense no one took my part; all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength to proclaim the word fully, that all the Gentiles might hear it” (II Tim. 4:9-17 RSV in all quotes).
Sometimes, in love with the present world, we desert our responsibilities and serve our own desires. Other times, out of fear or weariness, we fail to speak up to defend right or condemn wrong. The nature of our commitment is that our responsibilities can’t be shirked, even when other pursuits are more attractive, even when we’re tired, even when we’re afraid.
The nature of our commitment
Our commitment is betrayed when ambition for wealth, power, prestige, or influence makes us seek glory for ourselves instead of for God and His Son. Paul said that some “preach Christ for base gain,” and some self-interested teachers “make much of you that you may make much of them.” The nature of our commitment is that personal prestige is abandoned that all glory may be given to Christ.
We abandon our commitment when we become self-appointed judges of others. Jesus said, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get” (Matt. 7:1-2). Although Jesus was the designated judge of the world, he wouldn’t condemn the adulteress who was brought to him (Lk. 12:13-14). The nature of our commitment is that we give up one of our favorite hobbies: expressing our opinion about others and their actions and their motives.
We compromise our commitment when we over-commit our time or waste time and end up with too little time to spend on important things -service, study, counseling, listening, preaching. “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:15,16). The nature of our commitment is that our precious time is spent well, instead of letting it trickle away, wondering later where it all went.
Our commitment is shown to be shallow when we don’t pray enough, or pray too impersonally. I wonder how many really know the Lord Jesus. We may not feel Christ dwelling in us — possibly because he isn’t! So we don’t have the confidence that “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” And so our commitment wilts whenever it just gets to be too much effort. The nature of our commitment is to spend time with our Father, and our Lord — in reading, meditation and prayer.
Some people put off baptism because they are frightened by the level of commitment that’s expected. Others dive in, brushing off the cautions they’ve heard about the commitment involved. The right way is somewhere in between these extremes: Right?
Wrong! In between is a halfhearted commitment, trying to have the cake and eat it too. That middle is where most of us actually fall. Well, then, is there a right way to go?
We can’t be paralyzed into immobility by how big a step it is to become Jesus’ disciples. Nor can we treat it lightly, or be half-hearted. Nor can we ignore that the gospel demands a response. The only acceptable response to the call of the gospel is to fully grasp how big the commitment is and make it anyway!
A “cloud of witnesses”
Think about the people we read of in the Bible and the commitments they made:
- Noah abandoned a “normal” life to build a ship in the middle of nowhere.
- Rebekah agreed to marry a man she had never met because of a sign claimed by a man she hadn’t met before.
- Moses walked into Pharaoh’s court at the risk of his life to say, “Let my people go.”
- Ruth left her family, country and religion to be with the people of God.
- Prophets too numerous to mention stood in city gates saying (in effect), “Repent, you miserable wretches! And that goes for you too, Your Majesty!”
- Hezekiah said “No” to the Assyrian envoys committing the whole city to a bitter siege.
- Esther revealed her Jewishness when it had been decreed all Jews would die.
- Joseph of Arimathea finally came out in the open and identified himself with Jesus after he was dead, knowing it would be the end of his career.
- Peter stood up in the temple at Pentecost and said, “You killed the Messiah.”
In Hebrews 11, the writer lists a group of faithful people such as these. And how does it end? What was the result of their commitment? Hebrews 11:35-37 reads: “Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and scourging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, ill-treated…”
But that’s only part of the story. They also “conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, perceived promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight, received their dead by resurrection” (vs. 33-35).
The faithful don’t lead “normal” lives
Are we prepared to have remarkable things happen in our lives? The question is not only, “Are we prepared to suffer,” if we’re called on to do that. It’s also, “Are we prepared to accept the suffering as a normal part of our service?” It’s not only, “Will we give credit to God for wonderful things that occur in our lives?” It’s also, “Do we recognize that the events of every day are wonderful gifts?”
Are we prepared to live a commitment that is inexplicable to those without faith? Are we prepared to make the first consideration in our decisions be, “How will this affect my commitment to my Lord?” And then to make our decision based on the answer, regardless of what others will think?
The nature of our commitment, brothers and sisters, is to say with complete sincerity, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One