0212 SELF-INTEREST

SELF-INTEREST

In this chapter, we read about the trial before Pilate, all of the conversations and actions leading up to the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. So much to talk about: How the Roman soldiers mock-worshiped him, how they knew he was dead, where he was buried, and many other details. But one phrase jumps out at me, because it is related to some topics we have been talking about in recent days.

“Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. 

It was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to Pilate, and Pilate knew it. Pilate knew how to recognize self-interest. He was a politician. The world functions because of it. Politics certainly is built around self-interest. As the writer of Ecclesiastes says in 4:4, “And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. “Pilate knew a thing or two about chasing after the wind, though he had not found the answer to his discontent.

I’m saying that self-interest is everywhere. Much as we want to think of ourselves in a different light, the vast majority of decisions we make are based on what is best for us. Politicians claim to represent the best interests of their constituents, and that should, indeed, be their primary job: to do what is best for the people they represent. But they can’t do that if they never get elected (or re-elected) in the first place. So they find themselves doing what is in their own self-interests, while making public statements that seem altruistic. The same is true for business owners, parents, children, shoppers and basically everywhere you look.

But religious leaders are in a much more difficult place. They are in their positions to serve God, not just people, and not their own interests. Because they represent God, there’s a sense in which they demonstrate God’s nature. Because they are supposed to know God and understand his ways, their lives should reflect what God looks like when he gets into a man. They should be, what’s the word? Godly! Consequently, if they pursue their own interests or have a personal agenda, they cause people to assume that is what God is like. So, a religious leader with self-interest becomes worse than a person who falls short; he becomes a blasphemer.

The Jewish religious leaders were on the wrong side. How could that possibly have happened, that they ended up blaspheming, lying, holding secret overnight trials and then bribing witnesses, a betrayer, Roman officials and Roman guards?

I bring all this up because all of us who are in positions of leadership or influence in the church must take special care of not only what we do, but also WHY we do what we do. There are great temptations when your “career” is “the ministry” to do the same thing in ministry that we do with secular jobs: promote ourselves, advance our positions, improve our status, raise our standard of living. 

I believe the greatest temptation in the church is “control.” And the greatest desire of any man is “respect.” So when someone comes along and messes up my power base, crosses my theological understanding, and takes away my respect, I imagine myself to represent God while actually just pursuing my own selfish interests.

People go into the ministry because they want to serve God and help his people. They find it very satisfying to give wise counsel, or to lead someone to significant life change, or to usher them on God’s behalf through significant life moments. But over the course of time, all of that influence in people’s lives can be corrupting, because you have a LOT of power! Have you heard the saying, “Power corrupts?” And “absolute power corrupts absolutely.” When you represent the Sovereign Lord of the Universe, then your opinions carry more weight than they otherwise would. And so, without even being conscious of it, you drift toward believing your own press releases, thinking that you are, in fact, God’s emissary to the world, and that your opinions are God’s opinions. 

So, what does it take to increase your power when you are in the ministry? Have a bigger church. Have a bigger offering. Widen your audience through various media. Carefully control your public image (at the expense of your relationships with those around you). And what helps you accomplish all those things? Tell people what their itching ears want to hear. Entertain them. Keep them coming back for more. And one day, you wake up and realize that you were pursuing the applause of people more than the approval of God. You were driven by self-interest, rather than dying to yourself and living only for God. 

It is a slippery slope. But you have to consciously fight to keep from finding yourself in a very bad place one day.

As Paul said, watch your life and doctrine closely. Amen.