Thursday: Mission to the Powerful
Daily Lesson for Thursday 30th of November 2023
Jesus knew how to make friends with the powerful. He was admired and respected by many of these people and, at the same time, was also despised by many. The powerful people in the Bible who came to Jesus for help surely sensed that He cared for them. Also, many of the rich and powerful did not openly come to Jesus right away; they waited until they were certain that Jesus was truly the Son of God. Such was the case both with Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea.
Read Matthew 27:57-60 (see also Mark 15:43-47, Luke 23:50-53, and John 19:38-42). What does this account tell us about how the Lord used a rich man who clearly had been impacted by Jesus?
Until this time we have heard nothing of Joseph of Arimathea. Suddenly this rich man appears, almost out of nowhere, and is used to help fulfill prophecy. God has used and will continue to use the rich for His purposes. Hence, we must have a mission to them, as well.
Where to begin can be one of the most difficult phases in making friends with powerful people. In general, it is better not to pursue them; let them come to you. Jesus did this; they became a witness to His message, healing, and power from God. They were convinced behind the scenes that He is truly the Son of God.
Powerful people will seek to partner with genuine ministry for a number of reasons. They want to be part of something good that is changing the lives of people. This is one way they know that it can also change their lives. It provides a subtle way for the rich and powerful to get the help they need without publicly disclosing their needs.
The second phase is to begin a genuine ministry as an avenue for the rich and powerful to be part of God’s ministry. Take some time to invest in the lives of the rich and powerful in your society.
Challenge: Add someone to your daily prayer list who is in a position of power, is not a believer, and is someone you could come in contact with from time to time.
Challenge Up: Address a letter or email to someone in a position of power—even if it is someone you may never have met—and tell that person that you are praying for him or her.
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Many years ago I met Caroline Jones. She came to an Avondale College faculty retreat as a guest speaker. Caroline Jones was the anchor person for the 4-Corners weekly current affairs program on ABC TV for many years. She was a brilliant compassionate journalist and in those days 4-Corners was the "must" viewing for anyone who wanted a deeper understanding of what was going on. When I met her at the retreat, she was no longer the 4-Corners presenter. She had had a bit of a breakdown and had taken out some personal time to rest and heal before taking up a radio program called "In Search of Meaning" - a series of interviews with powerful, interesting, influential famous people.
At the Faculty retreat, she told her own personal story. She had started a career in journalism and was very good at it. That landed her the job with 4-Corners and she held the job for quite a number of years. She said that she found it very hard to come to terms with the fact that she was so famous and so lonely. Everyone knew who she was but she knew nobody at a personal level. During her healing process, she made friends quite accidentally with a Catholic priest and she ultimately became a Christian as a result.
Caroline Jones died recently and the event reminded me of my brief interaction with her. It was also a reminder to me that the people we see in the media and positions of power are often lonely and their greatest need is to have a true friend and not just one who basks in their fame.
Jesus was always kind when he spoke and never changed his temperament with anyone. That consistency and clarity had a convicting power in and of itself. Jesus wasn’t desperate for their attention or their resources. He didn’t go after the rich young ruler, apologizing and pleading for him to return. He said the spiritual comes first; the heart is the issue. We need to practice disinterested benevolence (EGW’s term). We should demonstrate the evidence of a Christian life consistently. We should minister to the powerful as Jesus did. Jesus’ mission was to “seek” and save the lost. Everyone around us is a special mission!
Powerful people put their pants on one leg at the time just as the ‘ordinary’ folks do. Why do many have the impression that these folks need to be treated ‘special’ regarding their need to personally meet their Lord and Savior? In my opinion, what is remarkable is that they and their actions are on public display at all times; the news media sees to that.
As powerful and popular people’s actions are often ‘measured’ by the media’s ‘popularity’ scale, some, for ‘popularity’s sake’, might be tempted to engage in ‘generosity’ and ‘highly promoted charity’ because it bolsters their public image. It is so incredibly important for them to have genuine Christian friends to help them explore their acceptance and/or participation in the ‘Light of Truth’ of the Christian Faith.
Ever so often I interact with politicians, local representatives or the ones in DC. They need to hear from Christians when being on the frontline of the decision-making process as their decisions impact all of our lives. I usually share my being a Christian when voicing my concerns or thoughts on an issue. Integrity is important to me when letting them know that I pray for them to have the courage to base their decisions on their oath to serve their constituents without personal biases.
Jesus admonished everyone by saying: – “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what the right hand is doing.” - Matt.6:2-4.Though this advise is important for everyone, the powerful and influential people will especially benefit from a genuine friend’s encouragement to stay the course and choose Christ’s model of integrity when engaging as ‘leaders of the people’.
Yes, the gospel is for all. I agree that we should practice preaching to the rich and powerful. But to me, although dissecting the subjects for instructional purposes is necessary, the message here is that Christ is for all. Christ is for anyone. More profound yet, Christ is all in all! May we seize every opportunity to share Jesus with others, whether poor or rich, anonymous or famous, in prison or powerful. Jesus is the message of love from God to every single human being. Which unusual person do you know but you could reach out to today?