Daily Jewel

by Pastor Carnell, McAlester, OK
may 24, 2012

“How Did I Get into this Mess?”,br /> “My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger, you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth.” – Proverbs 6:1, 2

Solomon is dealing with a very interesting concept here—one that I am not entirely certain how to approach—but here is my attempt. One of the things I see in this is what happens when you get overcommitted.
Over-commitment is easy to let happen. Especially when you have a giving and caring spirit. You want to be the kind of person that helps when needed—to show others that you want to be that kind of individual. But at what point do you differentiate between being a giving, caring individual as opposed to being a martyr for the sake of being a martyr.
A “martyr” in this instance is the person who is willing to sacrifice more than themselves for that which may or may not have eternal rewards. If you are willing to sacrifice your family, your friends, your responsibilities for something less than for the sake of Christ, you are not being a martyr…you are seeking your own self-satisfaction. Jesus talked about going “the second mile.” “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. (Matthew 5:38-42, NIV) It would be easy to surmise from this that we should always be willing to do whatever anyone asks of us at any time…right? I beg to differ. There is no doubt in my mind that there will be those times and instances where what is required of us means going the extra mile. I see this as the proverbial giving, 110%. I don’t want to just do enough to “get by,” or give a mediocre effort—I want to know that at the end of the day I have given my best effort(s) in every endeavor. I think what Jesus is saying to me in that passage from Matthew is that I will not let my enemies, those who use me before helping me, to get to me and prevent me from being my best for Christ. With all that said—I believe I can be Christ without making myself a martyr, and this is what I mean by that statement: There were a number of times in the life of Christ where He could have allowed Himself to be not only overused but destroyed by the demands placed upon Him. What we often forget is He was fully human, just as we are. He needed rest—food—water—and, get ready for this one…TIME TO PRAY!! There were a couple of instances where there were those who wanted to kill Him, literally. One of those instances was in His own home town, but when His critics attempted to silence Him…He simply walked away. He laid down His life…but he was certainly not a martyr.
When I was in my first Church, there were a couple of individuals in the town we were in that, let’s just say, knew how to manipulate and use the system to their benefit. One was an elderly woman who called constantly for assistance. She would call in the middle of the night needing a ride to a doctor’s appointment, or to go to the store. I was “notified” by a couple of the pastors in that town when I first arrived that she would probably call and sure enough, she did. Being the caring—giving servant I am I helped her only to realize that she was abusing my time and I finally had to put that to an end.
God needs servants!! There is no question in my mind that we are called to serve. And we are called to serve others as a part of our service to God. But is there a limit as to how far that servitude goes? If we are neglecting God-given responsibilities…the answer to that might just be, Yes!
Pastor J. T. Carnell