Man’s Gap

From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Matthew 16:21-23

Peter was a committed follower of Jesus. As Jesus explained for the first time that he would suffer and die on the Cross, Peter would not have it.

Of course, he wouldn’t. Peter knew that Jesus was the Son of God. He wasn’t going to let anything happen to Him. He would honor Him, remain loyal to Him, defend Him at all costs. Logically, from man’s point of view, this would be the certain plan of action. Attack. Defend Jesus.

Jesus clearly tells Peter that he was “not setting his mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Peter was only considering things from man’s point of view. Peter was selfishly focused on what he wanted, what he thought should happen, what was best to him. He failed to consider what God wanted.

Then, Jesus teaches about viewing things from man’s point of view.

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Matthew 16:24-25

Jesus dives deeper into what it truly means to consider things from God’s point of view. Jesus gives a picture of what it takes to follow Him, and it isn’t comfortable as you read these words today.

• Complete selflessness. Deny oneself. Take up your cross and follow me. The cross was an instrument used to put people to death. The thought is to completely lose yourself for Christ.

• Lose your life for Christ, then you will find your life. Every motive, every action, every thought, let it be about Christ.

At this point, I must remind you that these are the direct words of Jesus in the Bible, not the writer. Interpretation may be a bit different depending on the interpreter, but these words are pretty clear. What Jesus asks Peter and the disciples to do is impossible. For us, when we read these words, we feel the impossibility. Try as we might, we will never achieve what Jesus is calling his followers to do.

This year in particular, divisiveness among Christians seems to exist more than any other time in our lives. We hear statements like, “I can’t believe that he (or she) calls himself a Christian and thinks like that.” Or, maybe a phrase like “the church is missing it” or “messed up” or “lacks insight.” As believers, we all know that we are all hypocrites. All of us have gaps. None of us is pure in our thinking. Humanity and the church will always have gaps. We are mankind, and we think like mankind. Jesus had a word for us all when he said “before we worry about the splinter in our brother’s eye, we should remove the log from our own eye.”

So, what do we do about it? Following Christ, having a mind like Christ, is impossible without Jesus. Romans 12:2 gives us a great pattern to follow.

Do not conform to the behaviors and customs of this world, but let God transform you by changing the way you think, then you will learn to know God’s will which is good, and pleasing, and perfect. Romans 12:2

• Step 1, do not conform to the behaviors and customs of this world. Keep your eyes wide open to the culture. Don’t go after or believe things that seem right in man’s eyes. The things of this world are sugar-coated and sound great, but in the end they may be against God’s Word. The key to not conforming to the culture is knowing the Bible, the inerrant Word of God.

• Step 2, let God change the way you think. You can’t do this, only God can. Romans 12:2 is a great prayer. Ask God to allow you to see the world as he sees it, to transform your mind. He will change the way you think. You have to go directly to the throne, not to man. Every man has a little bit of the world in them.

And finally, you will learn to know his will. It is good, and pleasing and perfect.

Man indeed has a gap. Man will always have a gap. This is the beauty of grace, my favorite word in the Bible. His grace fills the gap.

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