The Personals

Ever heard of Jotham? No, not Gotham, that's where Batman lives. I'm talking about Jotham, son of Uzziah. Jotham, King of Judah.

Scripture says that Jotham 'did what was right in the eyes of the Lord' (2 Kings 15), and that 'in God's eyes he lived a good life' (2 Chronicles 27). But at the same time, scripture points out that during his reign, the shrines to other gods in Judah were still very much in use by the people, and Jotham didn't interfere with that.

Which makes me say, so which is it? Did he do what was right, or did he slip up by not taking action against these shrines to other gods? I don't think it's reasonable to say that both could be true -- that even in leaving the shrines to other gods, he was doing what was right. So what's the deal?

Could it be that when viewed 'personally', Jotham may have been a good guy, obedient to God in his day to day life, avoiding sin, etc; and yet he didn't accomplish some things that God would have wanted him to do?

This word, 'personal', is one we hear from time to time in evangelical churches, as in, 'Is Jesus your personal Savior?' This phrasology has come under fire from a few folks lately, I'll suggest not because it represents invalid thinking so much as incomplete thinking. When we give our individual lives to Christ, he is personally saving us; that's very relational language, and not inappropriate.

But if we think about things that are 'personal' -- a personal assistant, a personal ad in the newspaper, personal development, etc -- they are often things that are all about 'me'. They are 'mine'. And if we think of Jesus first and foremost as our 'personal' Savior, we may also run the risk of thinking less of the church as a whole, or what Jesus intends to do through the whole church, or what Jesus did/does for others in general.

So look back at Jotham. Scripture says he was obedient to God, but it very explicitly states that he doesn't put an end to shrines to other gods throughout Judah. The only way I can seem to fit these two statements together is to say that Jotham 'personally' was obedient to God, etc -- but when it comes to what God could have done through Jotham more actively to benefit others, Jotham didn't really go there. And as a result, something, or more probably some things (plural) were left undone that would have been within the control of the Jotham as king of Judah -- things that would have pleased God.

So the questions seem to be:

1. As I stumble along in my walk with Christ, do I think of the walk as just Him and me, to the exclusion of others who should or could be alongside us both together?
2. (and this may be a restatement of the previous question) Is it possible that I'm focused on Christ in my daily life, but still missing some assignments that are within my control because I'm not paying attention to others the way I should?