Are You Team Petty?
There’s nothing new under the sun. Team Petty has been around since biblical times.
When David said, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,” he was talking about King Petty himself, King Saul, who pursued him because he knew David was the appointed and anointed King.
Team Petty knows how you are supposed to behave, how you could better use your gifts, and most likely how somebody’s sandals were leaning to the side – although it has nothing to do with them.
When Jesus went to Bethany, the woman with the expensive perfume poured it on his head as a blessing. The spectators were saying, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And then they rebuked her harshly (Mark 14:3-4).
How about when David was praising the Lord and met disdain from Saul’s daughter, Michal.
“As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal, daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.” 2 Samuel 6:16
When David returned home to bless his household, Michal came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!” 2 Samuel 6:20
In other petty words – “Oh, you’re supposed to be king, but look at you how you act.”
Plot twist: This is the same girl who had been madly in love with David and became his first wife, despite King Petty Saul’s shenanigans.
David’s response: “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people of Israel – I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you speak of, I will be held in honor.”
In other words…
- Stay in your lane. God chose me, not your father, uncles, brothers, or cousins, to be King. I do what pleases God.
- That thing you see me doing for the Lord when operating in the Spirit? I’ll keep on doing it. Because I do what pleases God.
- And the people who you think I look stupid in front of will be cheering for me; specifically, because I do what pleases God.
That’s the stance you have to take when someone ridicules you for your praise or for daring to step out on faith. We are not in the business of trying to please man – it’s our desire to please God (Galatians 1:10).
Busybodies Will Meddle
Have you noticed that if a celebrity does a “good deed” with a donation, you will often see people on Facebook or Instagram who know better than them how they could have better spent their money, or how much more they could have given, or how they are just doing it for XYZ reason?
It’s mind-boggling. Aside from not minding their own business, they have thoroughly inserted themselves in someone else’s business and formed an opinion of what they would do based on a situation they are not in.
Remember the friend that always told you to leave your guy/gal for dumb stuff, but when their boo acted up…
It’s a form of hate.
What’s In Your Cup?
Are you the one in the window pointing, laughing, and criticizing?
This is not the same as just not liking something because it doesn’t suit your taste. It’s different from not liking someone because of something they’ve done to you or others. This is similar to you like something until you find out who made it. Not because they have a blemish on their character, but just because. Sometimes, you don’t even know why.
It’s an awful trait for anyone to have, much less a follower of Jesus Christ.
And the question, I dare ask, is why?
Haterade is not of our Lord.
So why drinketh thou from that cup?
It’s a poisonous drink that eats away at you and not the person it’s aimed at. You might feel better putting the person down, but what then?
Think about it. If you’re hating on a co-worker because she received favor from your boss, it doesn’t cause her to lose favor or promotion or receive less pay. Even if you hate on your sister because, despite Krispy Kreme, childbirth, or her refusal to exercise, she doesn’t gain any weight – she still doesn’t get any heavier. But you might. Because slander and envy are a heavy burden to carry.
Envy saddles you with a lens that makes you observe life through comparative eyes. I have this, but I want that. I like this until I see that. It makes you hyper-critical so that you voice words that are not only rude, but tacky, and many times untrue.
Her bag is probably a fake. That’s his wife? How did she get him (or how did he get her)? She went to Seychelles? Probably got a sugar daddy. But look at her shoes.
Really, Team Jesus?
And then there’s this: It’s an insult to God.
It shifts your focus away from what God has given YOU. It never allows you to experience joy because you overlook it while you hate on someone else’s blessing.
So, What’s the Play Call?
- Be ye not haters. You can’t do it on your own. When the urge hits you, ask the Holy Spirit to help you. I’m serious.
- Examine why you cannot be happy for someone else. Why isn’t your life fulfilling enough that you have to be upset that someone else’s life is happy?
- Examine why you have to be the only person in a winning position. Who told you that you were the only star in the sky? Who/what makes you compete for attention?
- Understand that even when someone else is shining, it takes nothing away from your light.
