Self-Description “Only a little child” is how Solomon described himself to God; how he thought of himself (I King 3:7). How instructive for us.
How do you think the people of Jesus’ day thought of Him? Poised, confident, authoritative, caring, fully at peace with Himself? How did He describe Himself? “I am meek and lowly of heart” (Matthew 11:29). Other than metaphors (like “I am the door, bread, light”) this is the only self-description we have of our Lord.
How others see us and how we see ourselves is often significantly different.
Solomon He had just arranged the deaths of two powerful and influential people — Adonijah, his half-brother (I Kings 2:23-25) and Joab, his father’s long-time general (I Kings 2:32). Shimei would die later (I Kings 2:46). Anyone who would order the death of another person has to have (1) confidence in their own judgment, (2) be sure of themselves and (3) be strong enough to act on their decision. Yet he describes himself to God as “a little child.”
How Different We normally look at each other differently than how we think of ourselves. It is true that in public, we men want to appear strong, capable, confident and fully self-aware. Admittedly, before the Living God, we are more apt to be comfortable with assuming “child” status. Still, arranging the deaths of his father’s commanding general and his own half-brother took some schmultz.
An Example: Bennett This matter of one’s public presence being different from how an individual sees himself came home to us some years ago. There was a certain man we were associated with in a Christian organization who was enormously energetic.
If there was a project being proposed, Bennett was making specific proposals before others had even taken any ownership. If some personnel tension arose in our organization, he knew just what should be done to ease it. If there was a social obligation for the team, he had it all decided how to handle it. He said, “I want to fix every person I am talking to” (you can imagine how this went over). He worked, worked, worked.
I Was Tempted to Say (reader, be aware please that Bennett was/is basically a good person, in spite of the remarks above or below) “Do you realize that you (1) talk so much that others can’t contribute? (2) appear to be competing to do the most and showing up even conscientious people who are solid contributors? and (3) dominating things in a way that arouses anger?”
Startling Revelation Then one day, in a moment of wonderful honesty and trans-parency, Bennett said, “I feel unworthy if I am not working constantly. I feel out of fellowship with the Lord. Guilty. Ashamed.” Whoa! How different the outside was from the inside. Maybe he also felt like a little child.
Bondage What was annoying for us was actually a bondage for him. Suddenly, our attitudes changed from irritation to empathy, from being unhappy with Bennett to understanding his fear, from being annoyed to lauding his honesty and transparency.
This man was laboring in bondage. Condemnation. Instead of being miffed, we should have looked below the surface of this man’s intensity.
Conclusion Be patient with people. In God’s time, He can and will bring to light motivations and hidden fears. Second, don’t say what your old nature would prompt you to say (stuff like “I was tempted to say. . .” above). A self-controlled tongue moves us toward perfection (James 3:2 says so).
Keith Kaynor
December, 2016
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