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Is Jesus On The Guest List?
Jon Burgess“But he did not invite me or Zadok the priest or Benaiah or your servant Solomon.”
1 Kings 1:26
The wisdom of Bathsheba revealed the plan of Adonijah's political coup. Adonijah wanted the throne after Davids passing and was doing his best to put his plan into motion. The only problem is that he didn't invite the prophet, the priest or the King to the party. There's a problem when those who are in charge aren't invited by those who aren't in charge but want to be in charge. King David called in Solomon and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed him king over Israel. The trumpets sounded so loud and the crowds rejoiced so much that everyone heard it over at Adonijahs fake-King party. Talk about an awkward moment. Everyone there instantly realized they did not want to be there! The real party was going on across town.
That awkward moment of self realization arrives the moment we realize that we've doing our ministry without the Master. If Jesus isn't on the guest list then we need to close that party down. Jesus, our prophet, priest and king is the only One who gets to decide who leads, when they lead and where they lead. We step into the same trouble Adonijah did when we self-promote. When we are trying to get everyone to rally to our cause instead of to Christ we are throwing a party for ourselves that Jesus simply will not be welcome at. If the Holy Spirit were to be removed from the churches how many would continue on with business as usual. We can have all the appearances of somebody that has it going on, but appearances apart from the presence of Jesus is nothing more then a poser with a failed plan. I don't want an Adonijah party. I don't want a church that gets by on my charisma or stategic crowd pleasing. I don't want to subvert what God is doing in someone else simply because I wish He was doing it in me. James makes it clear that "wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind." (James 3:16). That's not the kind of party I want to throw! I want Jesus to be the guest of honor in everything that I do.
No pity parties. No self-promotion parties. I want to only be involved in what You are anointing Jesus. I want to support who You are promoting.
