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.
I am
struck by the example of three people in 2 Kings 11. Let’s look first at the Queen Mother: Athaliah. Her is a woman who takes it upon herself to
kill all of her nieces and nephews. Why
would she do this? Well, her son was
dead. She was the Queen Mother and found
herself in power in lieu of another male heir.
From the perspective of wanting to keep one’s power she was eliminating
the competition to her staying in power.
This is much like King Herod’s killing the babies when Jesus was
born. It’s a horribly gruesome act done
under the misguided belief that a ruling person has the right to do whatever
they want to stay in power. It’s the
natural outcome when a person has no checks and balances. This is the kind of thinking that happens
when a person has no In.
On the
other hand, we have Jehoiada and Jehosheba as examples. Here are people who do the right thing in the
face of evil. Jehosheba hides Joash away
and keeps him safe. We also have
Jehoiada the priest who works with the captains of the guard. Together they make a pact and anoint Joash
king. They protect the true king from
the vengeful rule of Athaliah. Together
they discern. Together they act. They have the ability to come to a good
decision because none of them act completely alone. They share leadership and share the burden. That’s what life is like when we have an In.
<><
No comments:
Post a Comment