Question 1

How important is my status in this life?

Accepted Answer

Genesis 23:4-6“Here I am, a stranger and a foreigner among you. Please sell me a piece of land so I can give my wife a proper burial.” The Hittites replied to Abraham, “Listen, my lord, you are an honored prince among us. Choose the finest of our tombs and bury her there. No one here will refuse to help you in this way.”Proverbs 22:1Choose a good reputation over great riches; being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold.Status certainly has its advantages, at least on this earth.Genesis 26:12-16When Isaac planted his crops that year, he harvested a hundred times more grain than he planted, for the Lord blessed him. He became a very rich man, and his wealth continued to grow. He acquired so many flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and servants that the Philistines became jealous of him. So the Philistines filled up all of Isaac’s wells with dirt. These were the wells that had been dug by the servants of his father, Abraham. Finally, Abimelech ordered Isaac to leave the country. “Go somewhere else,” he said, “for you have become too powerful for us.”Status can also have its share of headaches and difficulties.Matthew 19:30“But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.”Status in this world matters very little in God’s eternal Kingdom, because the values of the Kingdom are radically different than the world’s values.

Question 2

How can I use my status to glorify God?

Accepted Answer

Genesis 50:20“You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.”We can use our status to bring blessings to other people. Joseph did not forget God when he finally arrived at the place where he could be used most effectively to impact the world. His experience illustrates in great detail how status in God’s hands can be radically transformed within a moment, even if it has been trending downward for a long time.1 Kings 10:1When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, which brought honor to the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions.We should use our status to build a good reputation that brings honor to God’s name.2 Kings 23:2The king went up to the Temple of the Lord with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, . . . There the king read to them the entire Book of the Covenant that had been found in the Lord’s Temple.Status and position provide prime opportunities to point people to God.Mark 10:44“Whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else.”John 13:13-14“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet.”Philippians 2:7Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.Whatever our status, we should serve other people. Like no one else, Jesus turned away from his legitimate status as a member of the divine Trinity in order to carry out the will of God regarding us, his creation.

Question 3

How do people tend to misuse their status?

Accepted Answer

Esther 3:1-6Some time later King Xerxes promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite over all the other nobles, making him the most powerful official in the empire. All the king’s officials would bow down before Haman to show him respect whenever he passed by, for so the king had commanded. But Mordecai refused to bow down or show him respect. Then the palace officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why are you disobeying the king’s command?” They spoke to him day after day, but still he refused to comply with the order. So they spoke to Haman about this to see if he would tolerate Mordecai’s conduct, since Mordecai had told them he was a Jew. When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or show him respect, he was filled with rage. He had learned of Mordecai’s nationality, so he decided it was not enough to lay hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he looked for a way to destroy all the Jews throughout the entire empire of Xerxes.Matthew 23:1-12Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with impossible religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels. And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.’ Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters. And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your spiritual Father. And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’ for you have only one teacher, the Messiah. The greatest among you must be a servant. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”Whether status is a legitimate political position (like Haman’s) or a religious assignment (like the scribes and Pharisees), it is easy and tempting to use that status to manipulate, misuse, and abuse others. God promises eventual humbling for such actions. And as in Haman’s case, the humbling can be almost immediate and devastating.