Months ago comedian, actor, host Steve Harvey was severely criticized for meeting with President Donald Trump at the request of former President Barack Obama.
This post is not to judge or examine his relationship with God, or his motives for meeting with him, but solely to make comment on something I think Christians (Black Christians in particular) should consider.
This post is not about Donald Trump or his controversial predicency. I did write an article addressing Christians and politics called DON’T LET YOUR POLITICS ‘TRUMP’ YOUR FAITH… that you can read by clicking the highlighted link.
Many people were critical and angry saying Mr. Harvey, met with ‘the devil’, ‘the enemy’, a ‘racist’…and feel that he should not have even entertained the invitation.
Mr. Harvey’s meeting with and willingness to work with the President reminded me of two accounts in the bible…Joseph of Genesis and the three Hebrew young men exiled in Babylon with Daniel…Hannaniah, Azariah, and MISHAEL. (Commonly known by the Babylonian names given to them, Schadrach, Mescach and Abednego.
JOSEPH OF GENESIS…
Beginning with Genesis Chapter 37, Joseph was sold away into slavery in Egypt by his own brothers. While in Egypt after serving in the house of a prominent Egyptian citizen named Potiphar and being falsely accused of sexually assaulting his wife, he was thrown into prison, but God blessed Joseph with favor that allowed Him to serve as second in command to the Egyptian Pharaoh , and to rescue his family from starvation…
Pharaoh was a pagan leader that did not worship the God of Israel. The Egyptians also thought themselves to be superior to the Israelites. Had that been today, would HIS people have said?
Don’t serve in Pharaoh’s ‘administration’…
Don’t work for ‘the devil’….
Don’t work for ‘the enemy’…
Don’t work for ‘a racist’…
Reject the offer to serve under him.
However, had Joseph not accepted that ‘invitation’, he would not have been in position to save His people.
HANANIAH, AZARIAH and MISHAEL
The book of Daniel Chapter 1 gives us an account of when the Hebrews were taken captive into Babylon, among them, Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah and Mishelle.
They were ‘hand picked’ by Nebuchadnezzar to ‘be in his service’. So they were selected to be ‘apprentices’ and learn the Babylonian culture and customs. While in the king’s house, they refused the eat the ‘kings meat’ to sanctify themselves for God and chose to only consume vegetables and water. They excelled above all others who were chosen to the Glory of God and went into ‘the kings service’.
Daniel 1:5 (NIV)
5 The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service.
The fact that they were captives would not have prevented people from being critical. The Babylonians thought themselves to be superior to the Jews. Nebuchadnezzar did not serve the one and only true living God. Even though they were captives they still could have refused this ‘invitation’, even if it meant death. Had that been today, would THEIR people have said?
Don’t serve in Nebuchadnezzar’s ‘administration’…
Don’t work for ‘the devil’…
Don’t work for ‘the enemy’…
Don’t work for ‘a racist’…
Reject the offer to serve under him.
It’s not our place to say whom God is or is not choosing to be used in certain positions of influence. Many people harshly villified ‘Steve Harvey’s’, including many of his peers in the industry.
We must be careful of how we judge situations. Christians readily spit out the cliché, “God works in mysterious ways”, but sometimes are the very ones who criticize how or who He chooses to do it.
I know this is old news now, but I like to give the air time to cool, give people time to reflect, so we can have a productive conversation. Plus…I didn’t get this viewpoint until well after the meeting had occurred.
I’m not saying that Steve Harvey is Joseph…or one of the Hebrew young men, but simply instead of being critical, why not just ask God to make the meeting fruitful?
BE BLESSTIFIED!
BE BLESSTIFIED! 