I like to play a little game with people called, “Watch this!” This may sound evil for a pastor like myself to do, but maybe I just have an odd sense of humor? In any case, it’s fun because all parties usually end up laughing at the outcome. I help ensure this by only targeting folks that I’m confident can handle being the butt of a joke.
Here’s how the game is played:
I set my sights on someone who has previously announced some so-called important, though not yet ubiquitously known, news. Said news can range from political, to media, to obscure facts, or to just about anything others might deem useful or interesting. Whatever the case may be, my target knows full well that I learned of it from them, so there’s this sort of “ownership” they have over this information – since they found it and were first to announce it to the group, they “own” it.
So, once the target is chosen, I commence the game by announcing my ownknowledge of said information in a group setting, as if I were the first to hear it. In essence, I am challenging my target’s “ownership” over the information. Since most people have the fleshly desire to be linked to original knowledge, when I announce the information as my own, they, almost without fail, throw a small hissy fit. It’s hilarious. I’ll exacerbate the situation by playing dumb, saying things like, “Oh, you’ve heard of this, too?” Then they’ll respond, “I’M the one who told YOU!” I keep playing dumb until they know I’m just busting their chops.
That’s when I reveal my scheme to them. I tell them that they were merely the subject of my experiment. The conclusion I share is that people like to own things, even information, because ownership is perceived as having value in this world. My point to them is that no matter how spiritually mature they think they are, they still have a problem with creature credit. The reality is that the Lord owns everything.
The earth is the LORD’S, and all it contains,
The world, and those who dwell in it.
— Psalm 24:1
As the wisest man of his time, Solomon, once wrote:
That which has been is that which will be,
And that which has been done is that which will be done.
So there is nothing new under the sun.
— Ecclesiastes 1:9
Back to my little game. Is my target actually the “owner” of anything, especially given the fact that God knew all information before human history even commenced? Isn’t it fair to say that God owns all knowledge as well as all tangibles? Indeed. Then why does man constantly bicker amongst himself about who owns what? Why, on a much more solemn note, does one man kill another over ownership rights that actually belong to someone else, namely God?
The reason my game produces a consistent outcome is because the human flesh is predictable when it comes to taking credit where credit is not due. People like to pretend they are humble, but this little game has snagged just about every person I’ve ever played it with. And to be fair, I’ve been the target myself, with similar outcome. So I’m not judging anyone, just proving a point.
Like anything good, knowledge is a gift. A truly humble person will receive it as a function of God’s grace and then, in humility, share it with others, giving glory to God. An arrogant person will always assume ownership and seek glory for himself by announcing said ownership to others. When someone else challenges said ownership, there is conflict.
Consider how much less conflict there would be in this world if people weren’t prone to fleshly antics like the one I’ve described here? Imagine how much more peaceful our relationships would be if nobody was worried about taking credit for stuff.
Now, here’s where we get to the crux of the issue, and it is the reason I’m writing this blog to you…
So often, a person who takes credit for something believes that since they’ve somehow “earned” it by finding it first among their peers, they deserve the credit for owning it. Once a person believes they deserve something because they’ve earned it, they are in immediate danger of linking their self-esteem to it. Uh oh. Once a person deems themselves “worthy” of the glory that comes with owning something, they have leaped headlong into a pit of misery!
A person whose self-esteem is tied to anything but Christ is relegated to a life of misery, anxiety, and despair. Why? Because only Christ is sufficient. Stated less theologically, if we take credit for God’s grace, we eject ourselves from His plan for blessings because we now believe that said blessings are a function of our “worthiness,” instead of as a function of Christ’s worthiness. It’s at that point that we live in fear of losing said worthiness and are subject to atrocities waged against our self-esteem.
One of the quickest ways to pervert grace, in a practical sense, is to take credit where credit isn’t due.
But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.
— James 4:16
Can you see the danger in this? The human flesh robs God of His glory by quenching the Spirit’s desire for you to give thanks for everything in your life.
Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Do not quench the Spirit.
— 1 Thessalonians 5:16-19
Properly receiving grace is fundamental to receiving the blessings that come with said grace. The baseline to all of this is humility, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE” (James 4:6). If we lack humility, we act like the aforementioned “target”, striving and even fighting to establish and retain “ownership” over things that we have no title deed to. The better perspective is as Paul wrote to the Corinthians:
For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
— 1 Corinthians 4:7
Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
— James 1:17
This is the perspective our Lord desires we cling to. It is the one that sets us free, delivers us, and even saves us from the perils of sin’s power. Our Lord is always giving. Our job is to learn what it means to receive His grace righteously, for this is pleasing to Him.
Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
— Hebrews 13:20-21
Love in Christ,
Ed Collins