A Hindrance to Christ?
By T.M. Moore
3/28/2007

Right Motive, Wrong Method

"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 16:23)

It's important to keep in mind that Jesus did not speak these harsh, withering
words to the devil himself, but to Peter-on whom, only moments before, He
had lavished such well-deserved praise. The same one who had boldly confessed
Him as Christ and Son of the living God, the one on whose faith, example, and
leadership Jesus promised to build His Church-this same one He now rebuked
and shamed.

What had Peter done to deserve such denunciation? He had become a hindrance
to the Lord Jesus, a stumbling block along the path to glory. And he had done
this out of what might seem the best of motives: Peter wanted God's will for
Jesus, and, of course, for himself, the titular head of the Church. His motives
seem to have been all right, mostly.

But he hadn't been paying close attention. Perhaps he was too busy imagining
what it would be like to be the chief builder of the Church, the one to whom
everyone else looked for direction and comfort. There he would be, right-hand
man to the King, making sure everybody knew what they needed to do, and that
they did it promptly and efficiently. Yes sir, the days of hard straining to catch fish
would be far behind him then. Life would be good in the shalom of the Lord.
Doubtless Peter couldn't resist glancing at the other eleven to see if they were
admiring him as much as he was.

But now Jesus was talking about, well, unpleasant things-suffering many things
and being killed. Clearly, that wasn't in Peter's little daydream about the Lord,
the Church, and himself. Well, he must have reasoned, one good demonstration
of leadership deserves another. So, just as he had blurted out "You are the
Christ, the Son of the living God," now Peter made bold to tell this very one,
"Mercy, no, Lord. This shall never happen to you!"

And then Jesus' withering denunciation.

Why was Jesus so brutal in putting Peter in his place? Because the stakes were
high, as the stakes are always high when the glory of Christ and the progress of
His Kingdom are at issue. For God will glorify His Son, and He will cause His
kingdom to make progress on earth, as it is in heaven, but He will do so only on
His terms, and not on ours.

PETER'S FAULTY FOCUS
Didn't Peter want Jesus to be glorified? Undoubtedly he did. Didn't he long for
the coming of the kingdom and its progress on the earth? Certainly. But Peter
had begun to get a picture in his mind, both of what that would look like and how
it ought to proceed. And, frankly, that picture didn't include anything like
suffering and being killed.

Peter was thinking about God's agenda with the mind of a mere man, trying to
plan God's work for Him in ways that would be agreeable to his sense of how
things ought to play out. His motive may have been right, but his method was all
wrong. Peter knew a thing or two, after all. He was a man of the world. He
understood how to get things done, what would work and what wouldn't work,
and how a proper kingdom and church ought to be set up and function. What
Jesus was suggesting troubled him, doubtless for at least three reasons.

First, what Jesus was suggesting was simply not convenient. Who's gonna sign
up for that? Peter must have thought. If You're dead, who's gonna make sure I
get to be head of the Church? kingdoms come with pomp and glory, not with
suffering and death. Let me set You straight on this, Lord.

But Peter was thinking like a man would think. We want things to happen without
a lot of fuss and trouble, much less suffering and death. Things like suffering and
death just aren't convenient. There's gotta be a better way. Maybe if we consult
some marketing experts, an entrepreneur or two, and a few techies . . .

"Get behind me, Satan!"

In the second place Peter balked at Jesus' plan because it was unprecedented.
Nobody had ever seen anything like this before. Nobody would believe that the
death of the Christ, the Son of the living God, would have anything to do with His
honor and glory or the attainment of His kingdom. No, this will never do, Peter
must have reasoned. I'm sure I can think of a more believable message to tell
people . . .

"Get behind me, Satan!"

Finally, Peter became the instrument of the devil, presuming to stand in the way
of the glory of the Lord, because he was not willing to take the Word of the Lord
at face value, according to its plain meaning. Jesus had said, "suffering" and
"killed." Peter should have said, "Tell me more, Lord." He should have said,
"Help me to understand." He should have pled for faith to believe the horrifying
report. But Peter allowed his own sense of the way things ought to be to lead him
to reject the plain teaching of the Word of God, and to suggest that he knew a
better way . . .

"Get behind me, Satan!"

Peter, Jesus advised him, had allowed his thinking to settle on the things of man,
rather than the things of God.

THE THINGS OF GOD
What can we say about the things of God? Well, they're certainly not what we
might expect. God's economy does not operate on our terms. His kingdom is not
of this world. We think the way forward is through manipulation, self-vaunting,
good positioning, and the careful accumulation of power. Jesus said, "Lose your
life. Take up your cross. Watch what I do, then do the same." Who'd have ever
thought of that?

Second, the things of God always find their defining reference in Jesus, not in us.
Peter was all filled up with himself at the moment, and Jesus' outrageous idea
about suffering and being killed simply didn't fit in with Peter's fantasy. But Jesus
is the centerpiece of the things of God, and, when we're rightly focused on Him,
we will accept whatever He calls us to do as in perfect accord with the will of
God and completely reasonable for living in His kingdom.

Finally, the things of God often fly right in the face of what we think about the
way things ought to be. Who would come up with a plan for finding real meaning
and purpose in life that involved denying your strongest desires and inclinations
and choosing a road of suffering and sacrifice? Only God could think of
something so out-of-this-world.

If Peter had been paying closer attention he might have said, in response to
Jesus' announcement, "Well, that doesn't surprise me. After all, nothing God
does surprises me anymore. And if He says it's got to be this way, then that's the
way it's got to be. And if he says I need to deny myself and take up my cross,
right along there with Him, then He's the boss; so be it."

But, of course, that's not the way Peter responded. And it's not the way many
respond today to the Lord's plan for advancing His kingdom and getting glory
for Jesus.

OUT OF FOCUS AGAIN
The Lord says that it is through the foolishness of preaching that He will save
people (1 Corinthians 1:21). But preaching is the last thing today's postmodern
generation needs, according to an ad for a well-known seminary. And many of
today's pastors are already there-substituting homiletical monologues, skits and
drama, hysterics and hoopla, and various kinds of high-tech productions for the
pure, simple proclamation of the kingdom of God. "Foolishness of preaching?"
Hey, Lord, I don't think so.

"Get behind me."

Or as seekers present themselves in our churches, looking for some hope, some
way out of their desperation, do we say to them as Peter did, "Repent and be
baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins"
(Acts 2:38). Repent? Are you kidding? Nobody uses that kind of language these
days. Forgiveness? For what? Aren't we all just in need of a little boost for our
self-images, a little "healing" for our "brokenness"? A little "family" to call our
own?

And the Lord calls us to address our faith in Christ to every area of human life
and interest, to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ, and to
gather up everything we can find and spread it under His feet (2 Corinthians
10:3-5; Ephesians 1:23). But we wouldn't dare speak a word in Jesus' name
outside of church or Bible study. Or insist that our communities would run better,
and be safer and more prosperous, with a stiffer dose of the Law of God in the
mix. Or make a fuss at the school board meeting over some aspect of the
curriculum that denies the place of Jesus and the truth of His Word. Or protest
some injustice or malfeasance in our workplace. Or cut back our way of
life-forego that club membership or weekly trip to the mall-in order to share
more generously with the poor and needy. After all, there's a place for us to
practice our "religion," and it ain't where others might get offended, or we might
have to suffer their reproach or rebuke, or be in any way inconvenienced by our
faith.

Oops. Did I say "suffer"?

Many of us have made credible professions of faith in Jesus as the Christ and
Son of the living God. But when we assess the state of our lives, and when we
survey the focus of most of our thinking, it's just possible we may be more a
hindrance to Christ than a help to His kingdom project.

FOR REFLECTION
Do you ever feel "inconvenienced" by your faith? Should you? Are you afraid of
suffering for the name of Jesus? Why?

T. M. Moore is dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and
principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian
tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed
chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have
appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of
websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for
Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet). He and his wife and editor, Susie, make their
home in Concord, Tenn.

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