2 Samuel 3 “Abner was very angry about Ish-bosheth’s accusation. ‘Am a dog’s head who belongs to Judah?’ he asked. ‘All this time I have been loyal to the house of your father Saul, his brothers, and to his friends and haven’t handed you over to David, but now you accuse me of wrongdoing with this woman! May God punish Abner and do so severely if I don’t do for David what the Lord swore to him: to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and establish the throne of David over Israel and Judah from Dan to Beer-sheba.’” 2 Samuel 3:8-10 Abner reminds me of the story of “Little Willie”. Little Willie crawled out on the ice one wintry afternoon and rescued a playmate who had fallen through. Praise and admiration were being heaped on him. Then, a lady asked Willie, “Tell us boy, how were you brave enough to risk your life to save your friend?” In between breaths, Willie shot back, “He had my skates on!” What seems like heroism is sometimes plain old self-service. Abner was not driven to expand David’s kingdom because of his theology…he was politically motivated. If Ish-bosheth was not going to roll over and play dead, then the next best option for Abner was to swing his support to David and use his influence over the Northern tribes as a bargaining chip. In this way, Abner would assure himself a more powerful position in David’s regime. After all, David’s power was increasing while Saul’s was diminishing. But in all his maneuvering, Abner didn’t count on Joab’s dagger! God was proved faithful to his Word, but it was not Abner who “secured” David’s kingdom, although he acted as a broker to help establish it. After all, Abner couldn’t even secure his own power…just when it looked as if his scheme was going to pay off. We meet more Abners in Scripture…not bearing Abner’s name, but wearing his disposition nonetheless. For example, Simon the magician in Acts 8 was the premiere convert in Samaria under Philip’s ministry. He went through all the hoops – profession of faith, baptism. Then, when Peter and John came along, he flew his true flag, offering to pay them well if they would give him the powers to bestow the Holy Spirit on whomever he laid his hands on. See, the coming of the Gospel had eclipsed Simon’s popularity as a magician. But Simon saw a chance to work within the Gospel establishment and win his reputation back. Whether 2 Samuel 3 or Acts 8, Christian workers must be aware of their own Abner-mentality. Our pious-sounding line about “building” God’s Kingdom may only be a cover for “using” it. Among the “Christian soldiers” marching onward, we must realize there are mercenaries in our ranks. Even faithful preachers, for example, who seek to grow their ministries to proclaim and make plain God’s truth, know there are times when they seem more concerned with whether God’s people will be impressed with “them”, like “them”, congratulate and dote over “them”. Abner is not that far away from any one of us.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 16:19:44 +0000
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