Receive Don’t Pay

I had a hard time this morning determining my thoughts according to God’s Word. The passage I was led to is Matthew 10:40-42 titled, “Rewards”. When I read the passage, it is hard not to think of reward as that is the title of the passage. But my eye and my mind kept coming back to the word I am studying, “receives”, and I am struck by what I found and the impact.

“⁴⁰Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. ⁴¹The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward.” – Matthew 10:40-41 (ESV)

What I see when I look closely is not the reward itself. Yes, there is great reward in receiving Jesus and God through the receipt of the disciples. But look at the others carrying the same reward, prophets and righteous persons. It is not left up to those in defined positions in the hierarchy of the LORD.

We receive from all those who walk this world. Notice my words above, we receive. Not all receipts are rewards. Even those who are not disciples and prophets and righteous have something to give. They will give of what they know and have received themselves.

“¹⁵Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?” – Matthew 7:15-16 (ESV)

We have to be deliberate in our receiving of others. There are those who will deceive us into believing that they somehow have something for us that is of great reward. They may have something of value to give, yet they may have obtained it from a spoiled or irreverent origin. There may be surface beauty in the shiny thing, yet once the surface is scratched the truth is exposed to be of little to no lasting value. These will give to us, yet at some point they ask for something in return, making the gift something we pay for as opposed to being a gift.

In our lives we are best served when we receive from the right places. Not those with surface platitudes to gain from us. We should look to receive from those who are giving without the expectation of returns. We should be looking to God, Jesus, disciples, prophets, and the righteous to receive the gift of the LORD for they do not ask for a return gift. God, Jesus, disciples, prophets, and the righteous do not ask for payment, they ask for you to receive the reward and your payment has been made through Christ.

It is hard in this world as we all look to just make it. I know that in my house, I am looking for ways to just get by each day. Thankfully, God has sent disciples, prophets, and righteous people into my life to give to me and help me make it. I have bible study partners, discipleship partners, community group partners, fellow worship partners, Lori, and most importantly Jesus Christ to give me gifts that impact my life. All of these are giving of what God gave them and what a wonderful thing to receive.

Where are you receiving? Are you receiving from those who give and then ask for something in return for payment? What if you received from those who only want to give and not receive some payment later?

Don’t Equate Bigger with Better

Even Jesus was not pleased with all of the large crowds following Him. He new that there were those who were, as known in the sports world, “fair weather fans”. Those that once things got a little difficult or when He would not be around would turn away and go back to the life they had before.

“⁶⁰When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?’ ⁶¹But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, ‘Do you take offense at this? ⁶²Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? ⁶³It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. ⁶⁴But there are some of you who do not believe.’ (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) ⁶⁵And he said, ‘This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.’” – John 6:60-65 (ESV)

Jesus had just told the people of His being the Bread of Life and gave some hard truths. The people heard and were grumbling of the difficulty of it all. He did not do this to scar the people, but to inform them that the to be a disciple of His, it would take work and would not always be a winning proposition. To which they turned away as their shallow following was exposed.

Jesus was working to build the church with a strong foundation and that could only be with those who would understand, stay, and carry it forward, even when things were hard and when He would not be there for them to follow. The church is built on Christ, not some charismatic individual that can draw a crowd. When that individual is no longer there, the “fair weather fans” will leave and only the devoted will stay to carry the church forward.

The church is not to be a crowd of people, but a team of disciples. Those who will take what they have learned and carry it forward. Yes, numbers are important, for the larger the numbers, the larger the reach. But, there should not be a sacrifice of quality in the interest of quantity. Beware of large numbers. As they are not a sign of a healthy church.

What is your view on crowds? Are you enamored at them and see them as a sign of great things? What if you were to be cautious with them and looked to devotion as opposed to simply a hoard of “fair weather fans”?

Lead All People, Not Just God’s

When we think of the definition of spiritual leadership as by Henry and Richard Blackaby: “Spiritual leadership is moving people on to God’s agenda.”, notice that it is moving people, not God’s people. This is something that I do believe is missed in the application of leadership. Leadership is to move all people, and in the case of spiritual leadership, that does not change.

We are called to “make disciples of all nations” – Matthew 28:19 not just those who believe as we believe. As a spiritual leader, we take others on a journey to and through God’s agenda and not our own. We have to demonstrate the example of Christ and others will follow, and there are a number of example of this in His Word. Moses helped strangers with their flock of sheep. Joseph interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh. The Samaritan helped the stranger on the side of the road. It was demonstrated to do what is right to God’s agenda. We can do this every day. I demonstrate love to all, regardless of who I may be working with and their belief systems. I stay true to the love of God and His agenda to lead other to it.

And that is the last truth according to the Blakabys, working from God’s agenda to move people to His agenda. First, we have to know what God has for us in this world. We have to follow Him wherever He asks us to go and work from what He has in store for us. Moses chose to walk away from the plush life of the Egyptians as he saved a Jewish man from a beating and likely death. Solomon asked for wisdom from the LORD and not riches and power. Before we can move people to God’s agenda, we have to know what it is and demonstrate that knowledge in our own lives.

As we lead, we must think of God first and allow Him to lead us. God will take us to those we are to lead. He will provide the lessons needed to teach and guide them. He will provide the destination and the path to get there. And it does not matter who they are, God will place those in need of leadership in your path to lead, regardless of what world they come from.

Who do you believe is lead with/through spiritual leadership? Is it only those who are spiritual themselves? What if you just relied on God’s agenda to move people, all people, to His agenda?