SCRIPTURE Luke 7:31-35
“To what can I compare the people of this generation?” Jesus asked. “How can I describe them? They are like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends, ‘We played wedding songs, and you didn’t dance, so we played funeral songs, and you didn’t weep.’ For John the Baptist didn’t spend his time eating bread or drinking wine, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’ But wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it.””
OBSERVATION
The previous verse says, “But the Pharisees and experts in religious law rejected God’s plan for them, for they had refused John’s baptism.” Jesus was referring to these men when he made his declaration. He was talking about a type of person who lives for his reputation. About how he will be seen by others. This becomes so important to him that he is blinded to the truth. He loves how he is viewed in other people’s eyes so much that he can’t imagine living another way. They want power. The power to be able to control peoples actions. And they look for the faults in others so as to make themselves look better.
Then Jesus said, and I paraphrase, “A wise person will not fall prey to foolish schemes and beliefs. Such a person cannot be easily influenced by others. He would not be lead astray from sound and beneficial conduct.
(I.e. being conned into investing in something that turns out to be a Ponzi scheme or becoming a follower of some false religious sect promoted by a charismatic preacher.)
APPLICATION
The Lord gave me this verse as I was sitting by a stream on my childhood farm. It was 2003 and I’d just been reinstated as senior pastor. I prayed about what kind of pastor I would now be - the Lord gave me this passage. Then he explained it to me. He said you will not be another Wayne Cordeiro or Ralph Moore. You Will follow me and together we will make you into the best you. Don’t look around. Don’t be imitating others. Be who I made you to be.”
And from that point on stopped going to seminars that tried to change me into someone else. From that point on I tried to be my own man. Well, not my own man, but God’s man. And I stopped worrying about what other people thought of me. I understood that I could never please everyone, so I focus on pleasing God.