Thoughts for the week (10/15/06)

This week, let me focus on the apostle Philip. Nobody knows a whole lot about Philip. There is not a lot of information given about him in the gospels. He was one of Jesus 12 disciples, the leader of the second group of four. John MacArthur does a great job explaining in his book that the twelve are pretty much broken up into 3 groups of four –
Group 1: Peter, Andrew, James, John
Group 2: Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew
Group 3: James, Thaddeus, Simon, Judas Iscariot

There are some minor differences in lists, but basically had it in this order. The first person listed in each group was typically the “leader” of that group. It is easy to see Peter as the group leader of his four, as well as group leader of the entire twelve. Philip was the point person for Jesus’ second group of four. This four were not part of Jesus’ inner-inner circle, but had a close relationship with him. MacArthur gave a great description of Philip as the “bean counter.” He was a “fact-and-figures guy – a by-the-book, practical-minded, non-forward-thinking type of individual. He was the kind who tends to be a corporate killjoy, pessimistic, narrowly focused, sometimes missing the big picture, often obsessed with identifying reasons things can’t be done rather than finding ways to do them. He was predisposed to be a pragmatist and a cynic – and sometimes a defeatist – rather than a visionary.” (121)

Although there are two main Scripture passages which showcase Philip as a major player, I want to talk about one - the feeding of the five thousand. Here is the situation: its getting late; there is a huge crowd of people around; Jesus takes care of people. What is on Philip’s mind? “I know Jesus is going to want to do something for these people. They look hungry. They should be – I am starving! There has got to be…1,2, 3, 30, 40, 100, 101, 102… there’s a BUNCH of people around here. There is no way these guys are going to find food out here! I wish we had a food court!!” John 6:5 says, ‘When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’” Philip says to Jesus in verse 7 – “Eight months’ wages wouldn’t buy enough bread for each one to have even a bite!”

Here is my question to you…have you ever been THAT guy??? I used to think that out of the twelve disciples I was more like Peter. Everyone likes to say they are more like him. He’s the guy that speaks without thinking. He’s the hard-charger. He’s the guy that will whatever it takes to serve Jesus – even if he does it wrong. Great role model. But, since reading this chapter about Philip, he’s the guy I identify with more. I am totally the guy who often lacks the vision to see past myself. If I can’t take care of it, then it must not be God’s will. If it is too difficult a task or out of the realm of possibility, it must not be God’s will. Jesus asked Philip the question, it says in verse 6, to test him, that Jesus already knew what he was going to do. Isn’t it incredible that Jesus blesses us even when we cannot see past ourselves? Jesus took the food from the boy Andrew found and fed everyone there – the five thousand men, probably four to six thousand women and children, the disciples, and had baskets full left over! I don’t want to be the guy that is given a task, who immediately starts to count the cost, and who gives up because its too huge a thing to do. Those are the tasks God wants to give us. If he just gave me Jerry-sized tasks, Jerry gets all the glory. GOD WANTS THE GLORY! Never forget that. Everything God does is for His own glory, to make His name great.

So, I don’t think I want to say that Philip is my “favorite” disciple, but he is the one with whom I identify most. My goal? When God gives me something to do, I don’t want to just make my list and say forget it because its too big a thing to do. Its okay to make the list – those who fail to plan reach their goal. My prayer is that God gives me huge things to do so that at the end of it, in the middle of it, before I even start, I can say to people, “Look at what God is up to. There is no way I can do this thing, but He is going to get it done. To God be the Glory!!”

Have a great week!
Blessings!
Jerry