No Popularity Contests with God

My good friend, Heather @ Desperately Seeking Sanity, had her son come home crying yesterday (read the details of the story here). In the story, she shares with you (word-for-word) what I typed in an IM chat window for her to share with her son:

tell Matthew that when Jesus picked his disciples that he chose people that no one else would’ve — the unpopular, the ones who weren’t very educated, etc. He didn’t pick priests and people who were in the temples everyday — he picked fishermen

Seriously, had I known she was just going to read it off the screen as I typed it, I would’ve polished it up a bit more

The people back in that day did not want a Savior that came to them in a manager. They didn’t want a carpenter for a Savior. They didn’t want peace. They wanted a King that was going to rise up and kick bootie (but not theirs mind you — everyone else who was doing wrong). If it were up to the people, they would’ve picked someone who would’ve won wars, not healed the blind, sick and crippled. If it were up to the people, they would’ve had Jesus around forever with us on earth instead of having Him die on the cross. People rejected Jesus (then as they still do now).

When Jesus was picking disciples (or people to heal or people to talk to), he didn’t choose the most popular. The people would’ve chosen the high priest for sure — he’s smart, he knows what’s going on — but the priest wasn’t chosen. No one wanted to talk to the woman at the well — that’s why she went in the heat of the day, when no one else was there. Matthew was a tax collector — he definitely was not well-liked when Jesus chose him. It wasn’t a matter of them being uneducated (as in the book sense we think of today) but back then, Jesus picked those who weren’t the most educated on religious beliefs. Fishermen weren’t stupid. They were very good at what they did — what they knew about.

It wasn’t a popularity contest then — and it’s still not a popularity contest — at least not with God. It’s all about having a willing, open heart towards Him.

And with that, I’ll make this my Thankful Thursday post — because I am so very thankful that it’s not a popularity contest with God. There would be absolutely no hope for me if that were the case!

**Edited to add the link to the details of Heather’s story — because I know I had it there last night …