“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. (Matthew 16: 15-20)
Background
The Father revealed this deep revelation to Peter. Jesus then informed the disciples that Peter’s life would be a foundation for building the church. So much confidence must have been breathed into Peter at that point. Peter was a man of action. Peter was a lion.
Reflections
I often think about what God saw in some of the unlikely characters he used to advance His kingdom. Moses. David. Paul. And Peter. All were massively flawed. And yet they were chosen for some of the bigger kingdom-related assignments ever delegated. With all the people options available to God, do you ever wonder why they specifically were recruited for “such as time as this”?
I do think there is one quality that connects them all. Each one of them had a bias towards action. They leaned in…in many cases to a fault. Moses leaned in to defend a Hebrew man that was being brutalized by an Egyptian. He went too far. He killed the soldier. He was at it again the very next day, this time defending a Hebrew man in an argument against another. He fled to Midian and watched some shepherds drive away some women from a well. He intervened. The guy was always leaning in. David smack-talked Goliath, volunteering for a confrontation as one of the biggest underdogs on record. You can almost feel his energy as he was delivering meals to his brother’s on the front lines where Goliath was mocking the Israelites and God. David just couldn’t let the status quo continue. David wanted in. You know the rest of the story. Paul was whipped 5 times; three times beaten with stones; three times he was involved in shipwrecks. The list goes on and on. If God had a dangerous assignment, Paul was always willing.
And yet Peter is an enigma. Most focus on his inadequacies. He took his eyes off Jesus while walking on the water. He cut off the ear of a man trying to arrest Jesus. He denied Jesus 3 times…and yet there is another side. In Matthew 4:19-20 Jesus said to them,
“Follow Me. I will make you fish for men!” At once they left their nets and followed Him.
Two words stand out. At once. Unlike me, Peter was not known to ponder. While Peter did begin to sink after taking his eyes off Jesus, I think the bigger story is that when Jesus said “come” the guy literally stepped out of the boat in a large storm. No questions asked. Have you every been in a boat in a storm? Amazing. Jesus was being arrested by the mob after Judas betrayal. Peter’s first instinct was to protect. Out came the sword. Even after most of the disciples fled after Jesus was arrested, notice that Peter continued to follow Jesus from a distance as he was taken away.
Yes, Peter was impetuous. But he also had a bias towards action. And Jesus and the Father determined to put their chips behind Peter. “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church…” (Matthew 16:18). Is it possible that while our culture values perfection and cautiousness that God places a premium on those who demonstrate a bias towards action?
Many of us live in a western world that increasingly values safety and comfort, whose pursuit is fertile ground for sowing spiritual passivity. Many pursue jobs that allow us to live very “comfortably”. We encourage our kids to do the same. I hear it in friend’s voices who proudly describe the future comfortable vocations of their children. Many of us sign up for life insurance. Many carefully plot out our retirements. It permeates our culture. And through it all we collectively model to our kids what is important to us. Our kids see it. My kids have seen it in me. It doesn’t have to end this way though.
Actively leaning in to expand the kingdom or correct an injustice should be a value we model. Practically speaking we can start small. What do we do when volunteers are desperately needed at church? What do we do when a neighbor experiences hard times? What do we do when missions trips are organized? What do we do to get outside of our suburbia bubble to be available to the hurting communities around us?
Lord, You uniquely created me with your own hands. You know my pre-disposition towards cautiousness. Continue to stir my heart towards action. Just like Peter. Please do the same in the hearts of my family…and my small group…and those guys that are close to me. Help us to be people of massive action. By your grace there is power to rewrite the final chapters of our lives. Amen.
What if many in the church became predisposed to action versus passivity? What would happen to our extended friend and family groups? What would the impact of that expressed value have downstream in the lives of our children?
What if... 