I'm reading one of my favorite gospels now, and I have to say Jesus was one crazy-awesome speaker! Since I am taking a rhetoric class this semester how he gets his points across is what's sticking out.
John 5
41I receive not glory from men [I crave no human honor, I look for no mortal fame],
42But I know you and recognize and understand that you have not the love of God in you.43I have come in My Father's name and with His power, and you do not receive Me [your hearts are not open to Me, you give Me no welcome]; but if another comes in his own name and his own power and with no other authority but himself, you will receive him and give him your approval.44How is it possible for you to believe [how can you learn to believe], you who [are content to seek and] receive praise and honor and glory from one another, and yet do not seek the praise and honor and glory which come from Him Who alone is God?
No surprise here, but Jesus is SO right. We are often unwelcome when we come in God's name, and with his power, yet we are fine if we come in our own strength. Why is that? Why can weaklings win the approval of other weaklings but weaklings imbued with strength from another Source cannot? Sometimes I feel like that about leadership. If you are completely surrendered to God, well that's great, but what if you are more loyal to Him than to the company or your job? When we are only surrendered to ourselves it is easy for another human to take the reins of control, but when we surrender to God he's not going to give this control up to some random person, no matter how much more "important" their title is than ours. God is still not a respecter of persons. How can we learn to believe in someone beyond ourselves if we are fine with being "satisfied" by other people, by getting our worth from them? If we'd rather have the praise of men than of God, so be it; we're just shooting ourselves in the legs.
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