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But Lord, he’s tall and good-looking!

Philip A. Gunther

Mike  Some time ago, while pastoring my first church in a small rural Saskatchewan community, I met Mike. Mike was an interesting character and a long-standing member of the church. He was in his greying years although still quite able and agile. Mike frustrated me as a young pastor because he didn’t seem to carry my vision for church growth and outreach. Even after my most inspiring proclamation of Matthew 28, the Great Commission, he didn’t seem to be fired up for Jesus. From what I could see, Mike pretty much cared about coffee at our local social centre, Bob’s Pizza. When called by the church to play a role in a major evangelism campaign one year, Mike was nowhere to be seen. I gave up on Mike after that. I guess I wrote him off as just an indifferent church attender.

As I spent more time in the community, I had the opportunity to meet with Howard. Howard was confined to his home for the most part and could not do much for himself. He needed help with quite a few everyday matters. “Do you have someone to help you out around here?” I asked Howard on one occasion. “Mike helps me,” he responded.

Some time later, I visited with several widows in the community who needed help with getting groceries and household cleaning. When I asked how they managed, the answer came quickly: “Mike and his wife help us.”

When I discovered a person in the community who had become a Christian through one of our outreach efforts, I visited him. In our conversation I asked him about his new faith. The words, “Mike stops by and invites me to church,” were like rocks of guilt in my heart.

Larry  Last fall, we began renovations on our church building. Part of the renovations involved washing, scraping, repairing and painting the outside walls. As the hired crew began their work, I asked myself whether they wondered about what went on in the building they were cleaning and repairing. Did they care about spiritual matters? They seemed outwardly to be gruff and macho, men likely disinterested in matters pertaining to the soul. My “sizing-them-up” resulted in a personal indifference toward them, and so, like Mike, I wrote them off. I convinced myself, by what I witnessed outwardly, that they didn’t really want to hear what I had to share.

Larry came into our church office during the crew’s second day on the job dragging a thick, black cable. “Where can I plug this thing in?” he asked. Our secretary helped him find a power source, and he plugged in his electrical cable.

Walking toward the exit door, he paused, looked directly at my office and asked the secretary, “Who’s he?”

“That’s our pastor here at the church,” she replied.

Without missing a beat, Larry walked past her and leaned into my office. “Can I talk to you?” When I invited him in, he grabbed a chair, plunked himself down and took off his hard hat. “I don’t know if I’m an atheist or not. I want to believe in the truth. What are you all about? My life is all f— up. It’s gone to sh—. I need something to believe in.” I felt those rocks in my heart again.

Eliab  Long, long ago, in a far away place, the prophet Samuel was sent by the Lord to anoint a new king. All he had to go on was the name of the future king’s father, Jesse, and a place, Bethlehem. Off Samuel went to Bethlehem. Once there, he invited the elders of the community, along with Jesse and his sons, to partake in a sacrifice to the Lord.

Eliab, the oldest of Jesse’s eight sons, was the first of the family to arrive. When Samuel laid eyes on Eliab, who was tall and goodlooking, he was convinced that Eliab was royal material. “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here,” he reasoned (1 Samuel 16:6). He was probably feeling doubly sure because the last king he had anointed, Saul, was also tall.

“Samuel, he’s not the one.”

“But Lord, he’s tall and good-looking!”

“Do not consider his appearance or his height,” came the Lord’s reply, “for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7,8).

After Eliab’s rejection, Samuel seemed to depend less on what he saw outwardly and more on what the Spirit of God stirred in his heart. In the end, seven sons of Jesse were rejected before the youngest, David, was anointed.

Was the right man chosen? It was not long before Eliab revealed his true colours. When David arrived at the Israelite–Philistine battlefield, Eliab became bitter against David and made false accusations against him. In contrast, David was blessed with the Spirit of God, was bold in his stand for the Lord and was eventually praised as being a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 16:13; 17:1-58; 1 Kings 11:4; 15:3).

Three stories with a common theme: When it comes to assessing a fellow human being, presumption and assumption can be hurtful and destructive. They can lead us to write off a brother or sister in the faith. They can lead us to disregard the needs of the unsaved. In short, they can lead us to act outside the purposes of God. My experiences have moved me to be more sensitive to the counsel of God’s Spirit when it comes to appraising the heart and motive of others, for rarely do we see the whole picture. God’s counsel is: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). Why is this important? Because man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

Philip A. Gunther is senior pastor of Parliament Community Church in Regina, Sask.

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Last modified November 30, 2001.

© 2001 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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