Once the trees went forth to anoint a king
over them, and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us!’ 9 But
the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my fatness with which God
and men are honored, and go to wave over the trees?’ (Judges 9:8-9 NASB)
There is a simple
answer to the question posed in the title.
I want to be great and useful.
But if you had to choose one, which would it be?
The context for
the scriptural passage is as follows.
Abimelech, the son of Gideon’s concubine, has through self-promotion and
manipulation become the King in Shechem of Israel. He found worthless mercenaries to be his
followers. They traveled to the house
where Gideon had lived in Ophrah and killed all of Gideon’s seventy son’s, save
the youngest, Jotham. When Jotham
returned and learned of slaughter he climbs to Mt. Gerizim and cries out a
fable, a story where plants and animals take on human characteristics to teach
a moral lesson.
The story went
something like this. The trees ventured
out to find a king. The olive tree along
with the fig tree and grapevine were the three main characters. They were valuable
to the economy and added beauty of this area.
Reign over us, olive, fig, vine plants.
But they refused, choosing to be useful rather than just to exercise
authority. Finally, the same question is
put to the bramble (thorn bush) (v.14); reign over us. The bramble bush replied, come and take
refuse in my shade. Bramble was neither
useful nor beautiful, but accepted their offer and promised to provide what it
did not possess, protection from the desert sun.
Jotham was
drawing a comparison between the character of Gideon and that of
Abimelech. Gideon, when asked to rule
over Israel, refused the offer. “I shall nor rule over you, nor shall my son
rule over you; the LORD will rule over you” (Judges 6:23 NASB). Gideon could serve better as a judge rather
than a king. The Lord was their King. He
chose to be useful not just great. Abimelech,
on the other hand, though not useful or fruitful sill lusted after greatness. It
has been said, if your find people looking for authority give them
responsibility. If you find someone
looking for responsibility give him or her authority.
I am not suggesting that you cannot be great
and useful. You can serve by leading, as
many a pastor or spiritual leader does every day. But I do submit to you that godly leadership will
involve the relinquishment of many private interests and advantages for the
good of those who they serve. And a
thorn bush is ill prepared and motivated to make these types of sacrifices.
Ken
Barnes, the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places” YWAM Publishing
Email: kenbarnes737@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment