Theological Commentary: Click Here
Discipleship Focus: In
- In: This is the word we use to express our relationships with our spiritual family. These are often the people who hold us spiritually accountable. They are the ones to whom we typically go for discussion and discernment. These are the ones with whom we learn to share leadership. They are the ones with whom we become family on mission.
Yesterday
we talked about Ahab and his appetite.
The spiritual opposite of appetite is In. Appetite is all about doing what I want, when
I want it, and as much as I want it. The
purpose of In is to help me discern what is really good for me and what I need
to let go. So while we saw a huge dose
of appetite yesterday, let’s look for In today.
At the
beginning of this passage we see Ahab go to meet with Jehoshaphat. Here we see Jehoshaphat do something really
cool. In the face of all the prophets
that are telling Ahab what he wants to hear, Jehoshaphat asks if there is a
prophet of the Lord. Jehoshaphat seeks
out In in the midst of Ahab’s appetite.
Unfortunately,
Jehoshaphat doesn’t seem to listen to Micaiah and he still goes out to war with
Ahab. Human beings don’t always get it
right, and that’s important to note. But
Jehoshaphat does still seek out an In.
We can learn from his example at least part-way. We can learn by the ideal of his action
rather than the full outcome of his choices.
In
general, the epitaph of Jehoshaphat mimics this principle. In general, Jehoshaphat was a righteous king
in the practice of Asa. He wasn’t able
to purge the whole of the land. But He
was still obedient to God and seeking His ways.
We get a very human perspective of Christian leadership in Jehoshaphat
here. He’s not perfect, but he has the
ideal within him to be his guide even when he’s not perfect.
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