 Ernest Hemingway wrote, “The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places.” It’s what happens in suffering that equips us to survive the pressures that come at the next level.
Promotion does not come through the laying on of hands. It isn’t found in a prophet’s prophecy or an apostle’s special anointing oil. Such claims are not only heretical, they undermine the transformative power of grace in our lives. True promotion, the kind designed by God, requires endurance. It does the deep work of sanctification, grinding down our ego, purging our pride, and making us into vessels of honor useful for the Master. It’s a process marked by pain but also with purpose. God is working to prepare us for promotion. For if we go to the next level before our character has been prepared, the next level could destroy us. Consider the prodigal son. He is a classic example of one who received too much blessing before being made ready. In his impatience, he said, “Father let me have my inheritance,” and then received it. The next level and all that came with it—the money, the popularity, the success, the prosperity—was his, and it ruined him. It’s the reality of life, especially in the kingdom of God: With promotion and enlargement often come greater temptations, harsher attacks and more ferocious enemies. The old adage is true: “With higher levels come higher devils.” Before we can go the next level, God needs to deepen our character to support the pressures of that promotion. By contrast, consider the Apostle Peter. He was next in line to lead the church after Jesus would ascend to heaven. We see this in Acts 2 and 3 after the Holy Spirit is given and Peter stands up to declare with authority the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In fact, in Matthew 16, Jesus identified him as a future leader among his colleagues. But before Peter could go to the “next level,” Jesus had to get him ready. Earlier, in Luke 22, Jesus told Peter, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” It’s a curious exchange, but gives us keen insight into the process Jesus had in mind when singling Peter out for leadership in the next level. Sifting wheat is not a practice we are used to today. It’s a process of separating the usable part of wheat, the grain, from the scaly, unusable part, the chaff. It’s basically a two-step process. The first part is called “threshing.” It involves spreading the wheat onto a flat hard surface, usually a stone, and beating it with a tool called a flail. The second step is “winnowing.” This involves throwing the beaten, crushed wheat into the air to allow the breeze to pass through it. The lighter chaff would be blown away while the grain would fall back down to the ground. It’s a fascinating exchange between Jesus and Peter on the verge of Peter going to the next level. Jesus basically implied that Satan had a meeting with God and asked, “Can I beat on Peter so viciously that he will be completely broken and crushed and see if he blows away in the wind?” And the shocking reply that came from the Lord was, “Sure, go ahead.” God gave the devil permission to subject Peter to a season of torment, pain, and suffering. Here’s the important part: Jesus told Peter, “I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” Jesus knew that Peter had a significant role to play in the future of the church. Essentially, Jesus was telling him that the season of sifting is going to be transformative in your life. It’s going to change you, to reduce you and diminish you, but when you return, you will have greater capacity and greater ability to strengthen your brethren. Sadly, many have been placed on the threshing floor, but became impatient and fled. They lacked the mental toughness to abide the threshing and ran from the instruments God was using to prepare them. They quit jobs, quit relationships, quit teams, and even quit church. A study conducted by LifeWay Research Institute revealed an alarming trend among modernized, American Christians: multitudes are abandoning their churches—and their duty to the Body of Christ. Why? Because they experienced some level of disappointment. The study reported that 37 percent of adults quit church due to some distress or offense resulting from the leaders or church members. Closer examination revealed 17 percent who said church members “seemed hypocritical” and “were judgmental,” and another 12 percent said “the church was run by a clique.” It’s an amazing contrast to what most believers in the rest of the world must endure. I’ve visited churches in India where 75 people squeeze into a room that 20 Americans would refuse to fit in. In Cuba, I’ve seen pastors convert their small private homes into Sunday morning worship services, filling every room, every space with people hungry for God’s Word. In Africa, believers gather under the shade of a tree, enduring blazing temperatures and hungry black flies to glorify God corporately. It’s a far cry from westernized Christians who get offended and leave the church because someone failed to greet them or denied them a place in the choir. Certainly, there will be conflicts and disappointments in any group where people are present, especially church. Leaders will disappoint, friends will offend, people will be hypocrites. But these are often the means that God calls forth as agents of our sanctification. It’s by being offended that we learn how to forgive. It’s by encountering the unlovable that we learn how to love. It’s by resolving disagreement that we learn to walk in unity. It’s by submitting to one another that we learn true humility. If you’ve been offended, betrayed, misunderstood or rejected, don’t run away. If you’re serious about going to the next level, this is how it happens. It’s by staying on the threshing floor, receiving the blows, earning our stripes, enduring with patience, and remaining mentally tough. For more practical advice on “Mental Toughness,” check out my newest book, Upward: Taking Your Life to the Next Level. Comments are closed.
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It was concerning King Saul that David said, “How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war perished.” His was a life that began with great promise and celebration, but ended in miserable failure and humiliation. His life is an example of how the mightiest of leaders fail.
Why do great men and women fall? How do leaders, quick to ascend with such promise of unparalleled success, find themselves awash in disastrous failure and disgrace? More importantly, can the path toward one’s downfall be discerned before it’s too late and be avoided? It is the premise of my newest book, How The Mighty Have Fallen that such a decline can be detected and reversed. The life and leadership career of King Saul, Israel's first king, provides us with a treasury of examples of "what not to do." The below blog post is the first in series of excerpts from the book to examine and avoid Saul's mistakes and find a successful path through leadership. READ AN EXCERPT |
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