I’ll Take The Gold Though...

Aug. 17

Read: Judges 8:22-34

I’ll Take The Gold Though…

“Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also”…Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the LORD will rule over you.” (v.22,23)

How quickly we as humans idolize others and surrender to their rule. We are so willing to bow down to the hottest new celebrity… “worship” some “lifestyle guru” or line up behind a politician. This is not a critique of healthy, strong leadership but a comment on the way that we allow our priorities to become skewed - particularly as the people of God.

The men of Israel come to Gideon and ask him to “Rule over them”. It had to be intoxicating for one who described himself as “the weakest of the weak” to now be doted upon by the people. In this moment, Gideon has a clarity which I can only assume comes from the Lord. Despite how alluring it must have been for him, he tells the people, “I will not rule over you…the LORD will rule over you.” This is a true statement, and a healthy perspective for Gideon to have - but there is more to the story as we will read. Gideon shuns the responsibility of leading the people of Israel, but he does make a request from them: “Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the (gold) earrings from his spoil.” (v.24) You see, giving a portion of the spoils of war to the one who would serve as leader of Israel was the tradition. GIDEON WANTED ALL THE BENEFITS / BLESSINGS OF BEING “RULER” BUT NOT THE RESPONSIBILITY. Gideon wanted the gold earrings without the weight of needing to rule over the people. To “rule over” the people in a healthy way would be to remain under God’s direction - continuing to have him as ultimate leader - and Gideon playing the role of carrying out what God was doing. Likewise, to rule in a healthy way was to guide the people of Israel to come under the rule of the Lord first and foremost… and THAT IS A LOT OF WORK AND RESPONSIBILITY. I get why Gideon would have wanted to “dodge that bullet”! There is simply no room for reaping the blessings of leadership without the responsibility. It simply does not work that way.

We see this phenomenon today. Everyone wants the “spoils of war” (so to speak) but no one wants to go to war. We used to joke at our Crossfit gym and say, “everyone wants to be strong…wants to be a bodybuilder… but no one wants to lift heavy weights!” Sometimes within the church we “spiritualize” this shirking of responsibility and make it sound more “spiritual” than it is; “I won’t rule over you… God rules over you… but give me the gold and recognition of a ruler anyways!” We want to be “CEO” before we have spent time as a “janitor”. We want God to entrust us with real, powerful ministry but we don’t want to be faithful in the little things that he has already given us! (cf. Luke 16:10) We are to fit… are in no position to receive… the blessings of influence and power if we are unwilling to carry the weight and responsibility of it. To give the blessings without the weight - in the end - will DESTROY. (We will see this in the next section.) To heap blessing without responsibility / weight is simply dangerous and in the end counter productive.

Who (or maybe what) are you being “ruled” by? Have you allowed your “hierarchy” to become flip-flopped? The Lord is our ultimate ruler… Jesus is our KING. There are men and women the Lord works through and brings into leadership… but HE remains at the top. Make sure you remember that! Has the Lord put you in a place where people are asking YOU to rule over them? How are you stewarding that? Do you find yourself feeling “entitled” to the “spoils of war” but not wanting to carry the weight of “facing the battle”? Have you been hiding behind some spiritual “cliche” instead of doing the work that God is calling you to do? Blessing and weight come hand in hand. * God won’t heap blessing upon us that is beyond the weight that we can bear. Love you guys! - JDP

* This is especially true for parents raising children. Blessings given without weight / responsibility in the end will become a snare and detriment to your children.