Not A Good Fit

I am always telling my classes to read the text to see what it is telling us about God. After all, it is God's personal self-revelation to and for us (1 Corinthians 2:9-14). Thus, the most important things the Scriptures tell us, they tell us about God. Yet, in coming to grips honestly with God's personal self-revelation, we must ask why did God tell us about Himself? The simple answer is He loved us and wanted us to love Him in return. He wasn't on some self-promotional book tour trying to merely stir interest in a book. He was giving Himself away – making Himself vulnerable for our sake that we might choose to respond and relate to Him!

God's love often goes unrequited, and even worse it is many times openly spurned and taunted. Nonetheless, it was for love's sake that God became vulnerable. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son...” (John 3:16) Let me ask you, what price would you be willing to pay for a relationship with the likes of the Jacobs of this world (the deceitful), the Sauls of this world (the murderers), and/or the Rahabs of this world (the sexually immoral)? Would you dare say they are not a good fit?

God never rejected anyone on the basis of not being a good fit! Yet, men so rejected Him as evidenced in His own Son. As Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem to the cries of Hosanna, he had reached the peak of his popularity. In Luke 19 and 20 there are 3 passages that stand out in my mind, reminding me that His popularity would soon be waning! Luke 19:47-48, reads, “And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.” Luke 20:19-26, “The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. ...but marveling at his answer they became silent.” Luke 20:39-40, “Then some of the scribes answered, 'Teacher you have spoken well.' For they no longer dared to ask him any question.” These three texts remind us of the depth of depravity which men will sink to reject God. There was latent in their very flattery and questions the readiness to do anything to get rid of him because he was not a good fit!

A few years ago, I had a conversation with a beloved friend of mine who has since passed. He was an elderly gentleman, in fact, he was one of the “charter members” of the congregation where I was preaching and well-respected by all. He came into my office one day to visit me. After we had visited a good while, he was getting ready to leave when he said, “Bill, your preaching is going to get you into trouble with these people.” I was a little stunned and said, “I thought you liked my preaching.” He replied, “I do but you are making some of these people think in ways they are not used to thinking and they don't like it.” As he turned to walk out the door, he hesitated for a moment, and looking back at me with a smile and wink said, “Keep on preaching the truth, you know it was never meant to be a popularity contest!”

Popularity at best is fleeting and it is certainly not something on which to build our life or in which we should seek to fit. The Hebrew writer said it best, “The Lord is my helper, I will not fear; what can man do unto me?” (Hebrews 13:6 read it with the punctuation as given).