Stepping Stone

It's pretty universally accepted that you do not want to be someone that gets stepped on. It's a sign of weakness. It's humiliating.

But my conclusion today is:  maybe it's not so bad. Maybe I should make it my goal to be "stepped on."

I was reading in 1 Kings 1 about what was going on toward the end of King David's life. David had had quite an amazing life--a man after God's own heart. Despite his own low points, missteps, and battles of many kinds, David had become Israel's greatest leader. He represented the pinnacle of Israel's whole history. Abraham had been promised a land. Moses had led Israel out of Egypt. Joshua led them into the land. But it wasn't until David that they truly controlled all that land that God had promised. David conquered Jerusalem and made it the great capitol city Israel had long-needed. He expanded Israel's territory and had such great success in securing her borders that few dared even to threaten them anymore. A thousand years later, at the time of Jesus, people still thought of David when they considered Israel's glory days.

But then, David gets stepped on. TWICE. And he seems to be perfectly fine with it. (Stay with me here.) In 1 Kings 1, the servants of King David are trying to get David to name his son Solomon as king instead of Adonijah, who had "put himself forward and said, 'I will be king'" (v.5). The plan all along had been for Solomon to be king, so David agreed to name Solomon as successor. Twice, David's servants speak up:  "As the Lord was with my lord the king, so may he be with Solomon to make his throne EVEN GREATER than the throne of my lord King David" (v.37). Again: "May your God make Solomon's name MORE FAMOUS than yours and HIS THRONE GREATER THAN YOURS!" (v.47).

I know those statements were intended as compliments--a way of saying: "Yes, what a great decision, sir! May God bless that choice, my king." But it got me thinking. Thinking about my own life and my own role as a leader, as a father called to lead ... and as a pastor, called to lead.

I've spent some time in the last couple of weeks checking out the candidates who are running for president of the United States. There's probably a ton that can be said about them; but I want to make one observation. When you're campaigning to become President in our age, you have to do a lot of self-promoting. You have to be comfortable with complimenting yourself, touting your successes. You have to make yourself known to people. That's understandable in a campaign environment, perhaps. But sadly, this is quite normal for everyone else too. JOB NUMBER 1 for most of us seems to be racing to the top, seeking to become the best, with little care or concern for others.

But I'm reminded of something I learned recently about the Pilgrims, when they came to establish a new colony in America. William Bradford wrote this about them: "[The Pilgrims] cherished a great hope and inward zeal of laying good foundations, or at least of making some way towards it, for the propagation and ADVANCE of the GOSPEL of the KINGDOM of CHRIST in the remote parts of the world, EVEN THOUGH THEY SHOULD BE BUT STEPPING STONES TO OTHERS in the performance of so great a work."

I had to ask myself ... and maybe you have to ask yourself ... AM I CONTENT? Am I content with being just a stepping stone. Not a grand, beautiful monument to myself. But a stepping stone, used by our God as a way by which those behind me advance the gospel of Jesus Christ in ways and in places I could never dream of.

I want to be a stepping stone for my kids. In God's grand plan, I want to do my part so that my kids exceed me -- so that the Kingdom of God advances in great ways in THEM (and through them).

I want to be a stepping stone for the people of our church. I want to inspire and empower them, not so they like and affirm ME ... but that they move closer to God and closer to living for HIS purposes.

In service to God and His infinitely greater purpose, I want to get stepped on. How about you?