Ministry isn’t always glamorous — sometimes it’s just choosing honor in hidden places.
It doesn’t feel like a stretch to say that King David lived a roller coaster of a life.
From shepherd boy to hero to king’s musician to king himself, with no shortage of drama in between, he certainly dealt with more than his share of highs and lows.
And while plenty of the drama and damage was self-inflicted, he also faced a tremendous amount of unjustified opposition, especially for someone who was God’s anointed king.
David didn’t honor Saul because Saul deserved it. He honored Saul because he honored God first.
What’s amazing about David, though, is that no matter how unjustly he was being treated by his family (Absalom and Amnon), his confidants (Joab), and even his boss (Saul), he consistently did his best to seek the high road when he would have been justified doing otherwise.
Sometimes in ministry, we may often feel like David did, where we’re getting pressured, attacked, and maybe even abandoned by people all around us. We may feel like David did in many of his Psalms, lamenting our troubles and wondering why God has allowed the betrayal and pain to come our way.
But if we can see ourselves in how David initially reacted to that amount of pain and confusion, then we should also be willing to learn from how David handled himself in those moments, which serve as a great example for us all.
1. He remembered who he was called to serve.
Even though the apostle Paul wouldn’t arrive until a millennium after David, his words in Colossians 3:23-24 (NIV) would have been echoed by David when he said, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
David was incredibly mistreated by his “boss,” King Saul, and he never understood why he was treated so unjustly. If anyone had any right to get frustrated, quit, or give less effort, it probably would have been David.
We’re not called to serve because it’s easy. We’re called to serve because it’s right.
But instead of using his boss’s actions and attitude as an excuse to give less than his best, or even as an excuse to mistreat or dishonor his supervisor, he constantly remembered that he was placed in his position by God, and God was his ultimate authority.
He probably could have been justified and celebrated for even killing Saul, given how much energy Saul put into trying to kill him. But he embodied another one of Paul’s future writings, in Romans 13:1-2 (NIV), which states, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”
How often do those of us in ministry live this way? Many of us have at times felt mistreated or disrespected (or ignored) by authority figures at our ministry, whether by an immediate supervisor, an executive team member, a board, or even the senior pastor himself. And in many of those cases, I’m sure we would have felt justified having negative attitudes, complaining, or even saying negative things in response to how we were treated.
In those moments, we must challenge ourselves to respond as David did, by biting our tongues and forcing our attitudes and actions to align with God’s words and promises, knowing that, as 1 Peter 5:6 (NIV) says, God will lift us up “in due time” after we first make the choice to humble ourselves.
It takes a lot to put our own feelings on the back burner, especially when we feel that we are justified in lashing out or pointing out the faults of others in response. But, like David, we must remember that when we’re called to serve, we’re also called to honor.
2. Serving is rooted in honor.
Effectively serving under someone is rooted in the principle that you place a higher level of value and honor on them than yourself, and you choose to elevate their position.
David knew that by honoring those over him, he was honoring God at the same time. And as someone with a call of God on his own life, he also would have been aware that God wouldn’t have allowed him to receive something that he first wasn’t willing to give.
David shows us that true honor isn’t about them—it’s about Him.
In essence, if David hadn’t been willing to honor Saul, then God wouldn’t have allowed David to ultimately receive that kingly honor himself when he was in a position of authority.
No leader is perfect. Our supervisors and pastors will all make mistakes (as will we); that’s the downside of being human. Failure is inevitable.
And while we can’t control others’ actions and responses, we can certainly control our own. And that’s the rub for many in ministry. Maybe we are in an unhealthy situation, and maybe we are being led poorly by those above us.
But those truths don’t give us the right to belittle or minimize those under whom we serve, in an attempt to make ourselves look better or justified. When our leaders make mistakes, we can’t resort to gossip or complaining to undermine their authority.
Choosing to honor someone doesn’t mean we condone their actions. It just means we continue to place value on them because God first did so, and we treat people a certain way because that’s how God expects us to act. That means that we sometimes have to force ourselves to respond in a way that goes against human nature.
3. Honor begins with the right attitude.
Many of the Psalms that David wrote while under duress have a somewhat similar pattern. He begins with a long list of complaints and even sometimes prays that incredible harm comes upon those who he feels are unjustly trying to destroy his life. Much of this is probably justified, given the circumstances!
Nearly every time, though, he is able to reset his focus from his aggressors and his circumstances to God, remembering who is ultimately in control.
That doesn’t mean he stopped praying for his circumstances to be different, and for those of us who may find ourselves in a similar predicament, the same goes for us. It’s OK to want things to be different and to feel vindicated.
But what David did so well was to shift his attention from how awful the situation was to how awesome his God was, who is bigger and greater than the circumstance itself.
When we’re able to look beyond the difficulties of our environment, peers, and coworkers, we remember that not only is God in control of all of it, but he is also able to equip us to do what is necessary in those moments. Does that mean the moment or the pain magically goes away? Not necessarily. David had a lot of laments about Saul and Absalom trying to kill him, and those pleadings never led to the problem disappearing.
However, those psalms, and his humility before the Lord, allowed him to have a new perspective in the middle of his difficulty. The pain was temporary, God was bigger than all of it, and his job was to do what he had been called to do (serve God and serve his earthly authority) and let God do the rest.
Is that a shift that many of us need to make? Maybe amid the challenges of a ministry environment it’s been too easy for us to focus on the turmoil and the pain, and maybe even to allow ourselves to feel justified in lashing out (or giving less than our best) in response.
What if we were to do like David did, to shift our attention away from those struggles and to really let go of the negative feelings? That may not make our situation any better at all, but it will certainly improve the condition of our soul and allow us to have a healthier relationship with the Lord.
After all, as Paul again reminds us in the New Testament, “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior . . .” (1 Timothy 2:1-3 NIV).
Nothing on earth tends to be easy when it comes to dealing with people. The only way we can navigate challenging circumstances and relationships is with God’s help. But, like David, when we are able to remember who (and why) we are really serving, that humility allows God’s power to flow through us and empower us to do the things we can’t do on our own.
When we’re called to serve, we’re called to do some difficult things too. And with a willing and humble heart, and with God’s help, all things can become possible.
