Psalm 75:2 says, “When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly.”
My cousin, Jerry, came to visit me after I became the pastor of a church in Ritzville, Washington. As we visited in the front room he asked me, “So, are you the head rat here?” “Yes, I guess you could say that,” was my answer (the only rat).
I have respect for the ministry and all church leaders. I take my calling as an assignment from God. Yet I wonder how often I have tried to elevate myself and seek promotion. It is easy to see it in others, but we each need to answer for our own motives. If we have a little bit of success, we can begin to think of ourselves more highly than we ought.
The twelve disciples had trouble with this. Peter said that the others might deny Jesus, but that he would not. We have the detailed account of Peter’s denial. The other disciples did no better. They all fled.
I want us to look at Peter for a moment. Was he the “head rat” in the Church? The Roman Catholics consider him to be the first pope.
In John 21, beginning with verse 15, we see Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him. The thing we often miss is that Jesus gave Peter three commands: feed my lambs, feed my sheep, and feed my sheep. I believe these were three calls to ministry—three specific churches where he was to be the “head rat.” I don’t know if Peter understood it all at the time. The first thing he does, seeing John, is asks, “Lord, and what shall this man do?” Jesus basically answers, “what is that to thee?”
Church number one was the lamb feeding. This was the great Spirit-filled church of Pentecost. Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, stands up with the eleven, and becomes its first preacher. During his “altar call” 3,000 Essenes join the church. Great days followed. The church grew, even in time of persecution. By Acts chapter nine, Saul was converted. Slowly the recording of Acts turns from Peter to Paul.
Paul wrote in Galatians 2:11, “But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.” I guess Paul felt the need to put down Peter, and then announce it to the Galatians. Paul does elevate himself over and over in his writings. In II Corinthians 16 Paul says, “that I may boast myself a little.” He then goes on in the rest of the chapter and boasts a lot. Dr. Luke, that proclaims himself to have “perfect understanding of all things from the very first” (Luke 1:3), and is also the writer of Acts, leaves off writing about Peter. He goes with Paul on his missionary journeys, and records many details of Paul’s work in the rest of Acts. Peter’s “lamb feeding” assignment was over.
In his second church, “The church that is at Babylon” (I Peter 5:13), he fed the sheep that may have remained there after the captivity. It doesn’t seem like promotion. We know very little about this church, because Peter didn’t write about himself.
The third church was the area where Paul did his missionary work (I Peter 1:1). Peter wrote two letters to them to strengthen them. He speaks highly of Paul in I Peter 3:15-16.
Bottom line: “But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another” (Psalm 75:7). There is no need for a head rat!
