“Give Praise To God!”

“Give Praise To God!”(Acts 12:20-25).
The cricket did not sense danger when the ants carried it shoulder high. Being a vain creature, the cricket thought the ants considered it a king. Instead of trying to free itself, it started giving orders to the ants. Before long the ants dismembered the cricket limb by limb and soon there was no cricket. It had become food for the ants.
The Greeks made us to understand that when the gods want to destroy a man they first raise him to their level. The catchphrase “No man pass God” is indisputable.
In a WhatsApp forum to which I belong somebody had these observations to make about the the clergy:
“…1) Our pastors are normal human beings and not Gods/ nor demi Gods hence are falible.
2) We selfishly raise them too far above their intellectual and Moral values by our comportement towards them.
3) Most of the time I can swear that pastors are surprised the respect and compliments they receive from some very senior citizens but with time they assume, get used to and eventually become what you make them feel they are…”
The same can be said of any domain of leadership. We breed and grow the monsters that eventually terrorize us.
Handclappers, praise singers, supporters and followers with uncritical minds elevate leaders to the ranks of God – which is unfortunate. But it is worst on the part of the person who is being raised. Honesty requires that we should not allow ourselves to be equated with the Divine. Even if the people consider us to be divine, we should not accept what is God’s own.
The LORD who raises us up does not do so, so that we should become like him. This was the sin of Adam and Eve; which has become the Original sin that contaminates all humanity.
The serpent lured Eve with these words, “…God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God…”(Gen,3:5).
Why would anyone want to be like God? Why must we want some kind of elevated preferential treatment which should be at par with divine rank?
All that remians of the exploits of the great wo/men of old are just the glimpses of stories about them. Fame and power lasts only as long as God who makes us so desires! God tolerates no rivals and each time we play God he tumbles us down with a crash mightier than the crash of Humpty Dumpty.
When we are in positions of power we should draw lessons from what happened to Herod. In all royalty he delivered a public speech which must have been very captivating; because at the end of the speech the people shouted, “This is the voice of god and not of man.” We are told that “because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.”
Dear friend, true greatness – especially in God’s service – is servanthood! Pride and arrogance shouldn’t cross the minds of those who are called to God’s service.
When the disciples were arguing about who is the greatest, Jesus told them what he is telling us now: “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and be the servant of all…”(Mk.9:33-37).
We shall be remembered not for the authority, power and fame we wielded, but for the services we rendered to the people, to the glory of God!
The only authority that has ever been in human form is the Lord Jesus Christ. Even so, he was just a tender sprig from a cedar which the LORD planted on a high and lofty mountain. He has become a tree with many branches and birds of every kind nests in it and find shelter in its branchess(Ez.1722-24).
Let these words of God about the Word continue to increase ; even when any Herod is exiting with the divine praise s/he has arrogated to self.
Sunday prayer: Holy Spirit humble us in servanthood for any leadership capacity placed on us. Amen!
Have a blessed Sunday! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.