Children in the Marketplace
Have you ever worked with someone you knew was just a little off? With each passing day, you recognize this is how they are. Not just a bad day, bad week, bad month, or bad year presentation; this is how they respond or act toward people on the job. It then becomes easy to write it off as "that is just the way they are." You excuse them, claiming that they do not know they are being rude. If it had been someone I thought knew better, I might have been offended. We see the former as mere hurdles and not traps.
When we, as the people of God expect others who do not know God to respond with the same kindness and gratitude, "without criticizing or blaming", in a forthright and repentant heart, we end up disappointed. Though God has graciously given us these things in Christ, we become offended by their unredeemed self-life, and we allow this to be a stumbling block hindering us from ministering to them. Attached to our ministering should not be an expectation of others. Is this not just the way they are? They are a lot off, as were we before Christ got a hold of us. We have gotten too close, we have mistakenly believed a lie that the redemptive work of Christ in our life makes little difference and is as unsaved humanity with good manners. We have become soft, bitterly complaining because they did not respond to us as the people of God would think to do or as we have been graciously taught to. We have not learned to love our neighbor as ourselves, but to expect of our neighbor what we expect of ourselves.
“And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? And to what are they like? They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.” (Lk. 7:31-32).
Jesus as well as John the Baptist were solely focused on fulfilling the will of God and not on the satisfaction of their flesh through the appeasing of people, that the responses of those around them or lack thereof did not move them. It did not lead them to abort their mission. It did not alter the way in which they ministered, and it did not even change the way that they lived. In relating with people they were entirely occupied both mentally and physically with being obedient to God. Nothing else weighed in. When we do not know what we are called to do in the Lord, we can become busy both doing and planning to do so many good things, all to gain a favorable response from people yet failing to glorify God. Obedience to God is still better than sacrifice, and though it may either please or disappoint others, it will not leave you disappointed because He remains faithful.
