Leapfrog

Matthew 16: 15 He (Jesus) said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

(5 verses later)

22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “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.”

My least favorite thing to do as a father is crossing parking lots with my four kids, especially if i have them all by myself. Why? No matter how many times I warn, threaten, coax, yell at or restrain them, one of them at some point is going to try to run ahead of my lead and protection. It is a rather stressful event as I try and keep us all together to safely navigate the parking lot. My older two are now 9 and 8, so their bolting ahead has diminished greatly. The 4 and 2 year old however, are like jail breakers seeking every opportunity to make a dash for "freedom". The reality is that their sprint for freedom is simply a "leapfrogging" of my will and protection, and they are putting themselves in great danger of both physical harm and my discipline.

Perhaps one of the most stunning dialogues in all of the Bible to me occurs in Matthew 16. I have put some of the dialogue that occurred above, but would recommend reading the entire text (and entire Bible) as it will help you understand this further. The context is Jesus has asked the disciples who He is and Peter nails it saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Jesus tells Peter that not only is that the right answer, but God gave it to Him, and that God will use Him as the rock upon which He will build His Church. I would have to think that this type of charge coming of the lips of Christ had to be exhilarating for Peter to hear. Now common wisdom would have us think that from that time on Peter was on point and perfect. Far from it.

It takes Him all of five verses for Him to stop following Christ, and the will of God, and to run ahead of Christ with His own plans. One minute Jesus is saying to Peter as he is following, "You are the rock of my Church", the next minute Peter leapfrogs Jesus' leadership and is ready to draft and execute His own plan. The response from Christ. " Get behind me Satan." In one sequence of events, Christ refers to Peter as the rock and Satan. When He follows Christ he is the rock. When he runs ahead of Christ , Jesus says, "Your failure to submit and follow is not heavenly, it is your will. It comes from Satan and it hinders my plan and will so get back in line and follow me". There is so much here, but the big point is this: humble heavenly submission in following Christ builds the body of Christ as He is glorified, and charting our own course tears it down as it fights against God and His plans.

I can not tell you how many thousands of times I have "leapfrogged" Jesus' leadership in my life. Just like Peter, God has started me on so many trails only to watch me run ahead of His plans with my own. I can honestly say that I think it is my biggest blind spot (that He is bringing vision to). Ultimately it is a pride thing that wants us to have a "say" in our lives and ministry. There is no place for my pride to try to lead Christ down a path. He is God. i am not. I need to follow. The Devil will not submit and follow and that is why Jesus so sternly rebukes Peter. In fact when you look at the temptation of Christ by the Devil (Matthew 4), all He is trying to do is to get Jesus to run ahead of the will of the father and chart a new course.

So, do you leapfrog Jesus' leadership in your life? Are you submitting and following? Or are you out in front trying to lead Him down your path?

Lets exalt and Follow Christ down a path to victory! Let's leave our plans behind and submit to His plans as we abide in Him!