God Looks at the Heart

1 Samuel 16:6-8 (NIV)
6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD's anointed stands here before the LORD."
7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

The Prophet Samuel was on a mission to find the next King and anoint him. We know that this King was to be David, son of Jesse. But Jesse had other sons and it seems Jesse thought all of them more likely then David since he left David out in the field.

Looks can be mis-leading. Samuel thought for sure that he had found the one in Eliab. But God dealt with Samuel by explaining to him that He is little concerned with outward appearance, but instead, looks at the heart.

In the next chapter, 17:28 when David is about to have his encounter with Goliath which would propel him to his destiny, Eliab publicly attacks David’s character. Could it be that Eliab was still upset about getting passed over by Samuel? Rejected by the Lord? Oldest brothers usually can’t take it when youngest brothers get the ultimate favor. Eliab would have derailed David if he could have, even though he had seen the greatest Prophet, Judge and Priest in the land anoint David to be the next King.

This is profound. But wait a minute… I’ve seen this before… I’ve seen it often! I see it in the Church! The ones who men think would be the greatest, when the Lord chooses someone else, they have no capacity to recognize the Lord’s anointing on the life of the one God has chosen even though they hear the prophetic confirmations and see the fruit and the favor. At least at first and definitely while they are still dealing with their jealousy and hurt feelings.

The beginning stages when God promotes a younger, less experienced person who hasn’t “paid the price” who nobody thought a likely candidate are heart-wrenching at best and even dangerous for the unity of the Body. If David dealt with it and he had the stamp of approval by God through Samuel, how much more will you or I deal with it when our stamp of approval comes through a mere modern day Pastor, Evangelist or Apostle... The answer for us is the same as the answer for David. Words and oil flowing from a horn by a great man of God though necessary and powerful, prove little. The time for advancement will come from being tried, tested and proven on the battlefield. This includes the battlefield both against a mutual enemy and also the internal one in the Palace as David would later face, the equivalent of inside the Church itself.

With every promotion of a person (or of a Church) will come a power shift at some level and more then likely, even a power struggle. Even if you try to avoid one within an established organization by starting your own, it’s still going to happen and you had better be ready for the “sheep stealing” accusations and worse.

What’s with that anyway? Nobody belongs to any one Pastor, Mentor or Church! If somebody “got” your member, then either there was something wrong with you, something wrong with them, or something wrong with the both of you! Learn your lesson, close the gap that they fell through and do better next time and release them, blessing them in their new situation. I really wish we could grow up on this one… You’ll have to excuse me. I have been to way too many Pastors luncheons hearing way too much of this kind of foolishness in my short time. We even have technical terms for it so as to purposefully avoid “transfer growth” and we say things like “transfer growth isn’t real growth.” OK, so you’re telling me that the Church down the street isn’t a real Church because their members transferred in from another Church where they weren’t happy or growing? That is jealous and competitive crazy talk!

I think we can agree that Churches which do a better job will attract more people. Just like a mechanic who actually fixes cars with better customer service better will attract more clients. Not that Church goers are clients, but they need fixing. You get my point. Now you could argue that a bigger Church isn’t necessarily a better Church and that they may be using watered down methods or whatever. I can sometimes agree with that too, but I still have to admit that a bigger Church is reaching more people. It’s simple math.

And so the question I need to ask is “where do you fit in all of this?” Are you like the older brother Eliab, the seasoned man of God Samuel, the younger brother David or some other person watching from the side lines, commenting on everything you see? What can we learn from God’s words to Samuel? Allow me to submit one more scripture and I’ll leave the rest to be managed between you and the Holy Spirit of God:

Galatians 6:3-5 (NIV)
3If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, 5for each one should carry his own load.