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John 21:20–25 (ESV)
20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” 22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” 23 So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?” 24 This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true. 25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
“That’s not fair!” When my kids were young, I would ask my oldest son to do one chore and my younger kids to do another, and I would invariably hear them all start to play the comparison game. “Why do I have to do this, while they get to do that?” If you had siblings, perhaps you remember playing that game with your parents when you were a child.
But the game isn’t left behind in childhood. As we grow up, we continue to play the game. We even compare ourselves and our situation to other Christians and other churches and wonder why they get to have those opportunities.
That’s the point behind Peter’s question to Jesus. Peter is wondering what’s going to happen with the disciple whom Jesus loved (that’s John, the author of this Gospel). Up until now, Peter and John have been central figures in John’s Gospel since the Last Supper in chapter 13, but now their paths are diverging.
In the passage just before this, Jesus indicated that Peter's path would lead to his death as a martyr. Peter, seeing John, asks a natural question, “What about him?”
For the second time in this chapter Jesus gives Peter a straightforward command, “You follow me!”
Here’s the thing. This isn’t about John, it’s about Peter and it’s about Peter following Jesus. That’s it, nothing else. It’s not about comparing himself to John and what the Lord will do in and through John in the months and years that follow. What matters to Jesus is that Peter is faithful and follows Jesus.
It’s so easy to look at other Christians or other churches and think that the grass is greener (almost always it’s not). What we need to realize is that we are in the right place at the right time to accomplish what the Lord wishes to accomplish, both as the Lord works through us and as the Lord works within us. As a good friend of mine once quipped, “Often the grass is greener where you work and water it.”
It’s not about others and their work. What matters is our faithfulness in following Jesus right where we are planted: reaching, nurturing, equipping, and sending folks out in Jesus' name.
Don’t worry about what the others are doing. You and I just need to focus on one thing: faithfully following Jesus wherever He leads us.
God bless you and know that you are constantly in my prayers.
Scott
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