Acts 1:20-24

20 “For,” said Peter, “it is written in the Book of Psalms:
“‘May his place be deserted;
let there be no one to dwell in it,’[e]
and,
“‘May another take his place of leadership.
21 Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, 22 beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”
23 So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen 25 to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” 26 Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.


The Academy Awards are this coming Sunday. Most years I get around to seeing enough of the films that I feel justified complaining how most of the Academy’s choices were wrong . The individuals nominated will spend this week trying not to get their hopes up, but preparing a little speech just in case. Most of them, upon losing, will utter these words “It’s such an honor to even be nominated.” Of course, most of them will have feelings stronger than that; they’ll feel the same as you and I would when someone else was picked for something we wanted. It’s a bad combination of jealous, disappointment, and an appeal to some sense of justice that only makes sense in our heads. Usually, an individual, myself included, responds to being passed over by laying most of the blame on the person or people responsible for the decision. We think they got it wrong, and their fallibility both enrages and comforts us. However, what happens when the person picking someone else is an omniscient God?
This happens in the passage above, where Matthias is picked as a disciple over Barsabbas. This happens all over the Bible. Jesus picked his 12 disciples over a much larger pool of candidates, David was chosen to be King over all of his brothers, the Judges were hand-picked by God to rule Israel, and Joseph was clearly favored over his brothers. What can when learn from a God that loves everyone eternally and equally yet still doesn’t give equal opportunities to all his followers?
I think there are several things to be learned from this. The first is that we are all created uniquely. If there was meant to only one type of Christian, with one set of gifts, there would so much wasted potential and opportunity. Imagine it’s the Super bowl and your team has the 53 best quarterbacks in the world on the team, it would get blown out in the game by a team that simply has all of the positions covered. The body of Christ works the same way; everyone has a place or purpose that is different and unique. Second, pride is one of the biggest killers of the body of Christ. The disciples would constantly get corrected by Christ for fighting for position among themselves. They weren’t simply content being the chosen twelve; they had to be the best at that too. One of the questions I always try to ask when deciding between leaders is “How would they respond to not being chosen?” I want the individuals who will still give one hundred percent no matter what their role, not the ones who let their pride keep God from using them.
One of the coolest examples of someone who got it right was Brother Lawrence. Brother Lawrence gave up his life to join a monastery, and found himself working in the kitchen. Instead of jockeying for a better position, complaining, or even quitting, Brother Lawrence set out to glorify God in his role. He was determined that if his role was to cook and clean, he would glorify God by giving one hundred percent. His teaching and example has made such a bigger impact on the lives of people hundreds of years after his death, and it never would have happened had he received the position he probably deserved. God’s plan is for us to do what he made us to do, glorifying him with the best of our abilities, not to try to climb as high as we can up the hierarchy of the church. Always serve, but do not chase after higher positioning and authority for the sake of higher positioning and authority.

Matthew 20:16 “The first shall be last and the last shall be first”





1. I’m sorry, I seem to be in the minority when I say a movie should not be both incredibly boring and a Best Picture nominee.