Overlooked
The job posting for a senior pastor required "transformational leadership," "top-notch" Bible teaching, and meeting "standards of excellence." As I read through the twenty-four bullet points describing the church's ideal candidate, I felt exhausted. Perhaps some disciples of Jesus have ten times the stamina of the ordinary person, and this church will be faithfully shepherded by an outstanding pastor. Or perhaps what we demand from pastors sets a trap that guarantees their eventual failure.
Read 1 Samuel 16:1-13
God tasked Samuel with the ultimate job search: find the next king of Israel. Complicating matters, the current king, Saul, was anxious about being displaced. So it's likely, as was the custom, that Saul set up a network of informers throughout his kingdom to report back on any hints of a coup. Further, when God's prophet showed up unannounced, with a sacrificial heifer in tow, it could mean he had come to address serious sin in your village. So the elders fearfully come out and ask the all-important question: Do you come in peace? Samuel puts them at ease and sets in motion a process that leads everyone in the small town of Bethlehem to consecrate themselves. It's a shrewd move that keeps everyone busy, attentive to God, and committed to the process. Eliab meets the job description. He looks like a king. Samuel is supposed to be the most spiritually aware person in Israel. From his perspective, surely Eliab is the one. But God corrects him: "You're using the wrong criteria to evaluate him. I've looked at his heart, and I've rejected him." Without God's intervention, Samuel would have made the same mistake twice. Both Saul and Eliab were tall, but that didn't qualify either of them to be God's king. With pride, Jesse showed Samuel seven of his sons. But to his disappointment, none of them was picked for the job. Samuel is left wondering: Is anyone left? Jesse doesn't even name him. He reluctantly acknowledges that the runt of the family is not present because he's out in the hills, taking care of the sheep. The prophet asks that he be brought in. One of my friends recently organized an event to honor the students with special needs at his school. It was the first time anyone had done this. Their parents came up to him afterwards with tears of gratitude and joy. No one else had seen their children the way he had. I wonder if our demand for successful leaders means we'll keep getting leaders who know how to get us to accomplish their goals. The unseen work of building friendships and serving our neighbors isn't impressive and can't scale. Until we want to be like Jesus more than we want to be associated with celebrities, we'll keep being successful without God. As the sun beats down on the villagers, a messenger runs out to the hillside, looking for a band of sheep and their shepherd. Perhaps it was a short trip, or they awkwardly waited for hours. But as soon as David appears, the Lord makes it clear: the one person that everyone overlooked is the one he wanted to be king. Samuel makes it official and the Spirit makes it real. The whole process was training Israel to spot Jesus when he came. But at the start of his ministry, Nathanael had the same kind of question: "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" (John 1:46).
Why do we keep seeing scandals implode large ministries?
When God looks at your heart, what does he see as your greatest desire?
Whose desire to be like Jesus makes you want to follow Jesus?
Ask God to show you one friend you've been overlooking because they are humbly serving others. Send them a text, "I see what you're doing for others. I thank God for the example you're setting for me."