22 Mar Don’t Take Any Chances

As I write this post on Tuesday, Green Bay and much of the Midwest are digging out from two to three feet of snow (Green Bay received about 27 inches of snow). By last Wednesday, churches in the Green Bay area began canceling Sunday services. I waited until Friday. By Saturday, most churches in the area had followed suit. But not all.

One pastor I know said he wouldn’t make the call until Sunday morning. Why? He felt he had seen too many times where weather forecasters predicted megastorms that never developed. He wasn’t taking any chances. True to his word, he canceled church at 4:45 AM Sunday morning. His may have been the last church in the Upper Midwest to close. But was he wrong?  After all, we are warned in the Bible about putting our trust in people.

23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name.  24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. 25 He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person. John 2:24-25 (NIV)

No one knew the heart of man better than the Lord Himself. He didn’t have to guess about or put trust in their motives. He knew whether they truly believed or were simply drawn by the signs and miracles Jesus was performing, hoping they could gain from them. The Apostle Paul also shared that he put his faith only in Christ and not in people:

15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. 17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus. 18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas (Peter) and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. 20 I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie. Galatians 1:15-20 (NIV)

Why did Paul stress this independence from other people?

His determination to avoid Jerusalem was not out of disrespect for his fellow apostles; it was rather because he had been commissioned by the risen Lord Himself and given a unique ministry to the Gentiles. Hence his gospel and his service needed no human authorization. He was independent of man altogether. (Believer’s Bible Commentary)

Obviously, there are times when we must seek the counsel of others and rely on their wisdom, education and training. But the reluctant pastor’s skepticism of weather forecasters is a healthy reminder that we cannot wholly trust people the way we can and should trust God. He’s the only forecaster with a 100% accuracy rate!

Pastor Jerry Bader