"Mind your own damn business, Peter!" (John 21:20-24)

[A Guest Card Talk by *Joel Gustafson]

Since I moved out to Colorado, I’ve started going to a boxing gym to get in shape. There are some days when I love it, but more often than not, I’d rather set myself on fire than work out. It would be a lot less expensive, and I’d feel the exact same way. (There’s probably a good blog post here about doing your devotions, even when you don’t feel like it, but that’s for another time.)

Sometimes, though, I realize that my problem isn’t that I feel like death. Sometimes my problem is that I see these big burly guys who knock their punching bag off the chain and feel like I, an average-sized young adult who is trying his best, can’t do as good of a job as they are. When I catch myself comparing myself to others, it often leads to an awful workout.

All this makes me makes me relate to Peter, as I often do.

After the resurrection, Jesus and Peter have an incredibly awkward one-on-one conversation. After all, the last time Jesus had dinner with his disciples, Peter was told that he would deny Jesus three times before the rooster crowed. Peter swore that he wouldn’t, only to find himself denying Jesus three times and being overcome with grief. Jesus proceeds to ask Peter “Do you love me?” three times, calling Peter to feed his sheep. The conversation ends with Jesus telling Peter that he will one day be led somewhere he doesn’t want to go, indicating that Peter will become a martyr.

Perhaps looking to change the subject, Peter then prompts this exchange:

Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” ~ John 21:20-22

In essence, Jesus says to Peter, “Why do you care so much? Mind your damn business, Peter! Take that attention you’re giving him and use it to follow me!” Jesus has a specific calling that the other disciple needed to follow, and this calling looks different than the calling that Jesus has for Peter.

As easy as it is to tease Peter for being Peter, I know that I’ve been in the same boat before. I have issues with anxiety, which can make being in ministry a lot less fun. In college, I would often ask God why I didn’t seem to be as content as my friends in the youth ministry program. In my current role, I often see what other churches and or church leaders are doing and get stressed out about the job that I’m doing. It’s easy to feel as if the calling that God gave them is better or easier than the calling that God gave me.

I think that part of the problem is that in Christian culture, we tend to elevate certain callings over others.

We often think that the best, most faithful Christians are the ones who are pastors, missionaries, athletes who kneel in the end-zone, or members of Casting Crowns. While these folks may certainly be following their calling, we think to ourselves, “This needs to be my calling too.” Unfortunately, this leads to us devaluing what we may consider the more “ordinary” callings that we have been given.

Martin Luther said it well: the Christian shoemaker does his job well not by putting little crosses on their shoes, but by making quality shoes. I’m becoming more and more convinced that each of the callings that we’ve been given matter, whether it’s becoming a martyr, writing the book of Revelation, being a pastor, volunteering in the nursery, making coffee, coaching a volleyball team, raising kids, or being a student. God doesn’t ask us to be the most influential Christian on the planet; He just asks us to be faithful.

Perhaps we all need to mind our damn business,

our Father’s business.

Perhaps we should take the energy that we use to compare ourselves to others, and focus more on following Jesus Christ, who equips us to do what He has called us to do.

* About Joel Gustafson: Joel is the Youth Leader at Immanuel Christian Reformed Church in Fort Collins, CO. After growing up in a terrifyingly evangelical conservative environment and getting kicked out of homeschooling, Joel went to Calvin College, fell in love with Jesus, and learned how to have a healthy relationship with God. When he’s not telling bad jokes to teenagers, Joel enjoys listening to podcasts about bad movies, re-reading N.T. Wright or Harry Potter, and asking strangers on the street if he can pet their dog. You can follow Joel on Twitter at @joeldavidgus, but if you want to connect in person, you can go into any coffee shop and wait. Statistically speaking, he’ll eventually show up.