“The higher you climb the ladder, the more you’ll have to contend with the heel bites of lesser men.” – Rev. T.F. Tenney
It’s a powerful quote. A quote I’ve held onto for nigh onto 30 years.
Every time I have faced a giant, and had to stand alone in my own Valley of Elah with my simple, five stones, I’ve whispered, “It’s just another lesser man.”
Recently, however, I’ve grown uncomfortable—not necessarily with the quote—but with my understanding of it.
David’s giant was a person, just like David. That giant had a family. He had his culture, his way of life. That giant had to contend with setbacks, disappointments, and trials.
He was a Gentile, yes, but was he truly the Lesser Man?
I realized that over the last 30 years, I have been quick to judge my detractors, those who have challenged, critiqued, and lashed out at me, as the Lesser Man.
The fact is, however, that God is “no respecter of persons,” according to Acts 10:34.
True, there was a distinction between Jew and Gentile in the Old Testament, with the Jews being termed God’s chosen people… but every time you find a Gentile who was repentant and willing to follow God, you find them grafted into the chosen.
Look at Rahab, a Canaanite harlot. Married to a Hebrew, enmeshed within the Israelite nation, she is now found in the lineage of Jesus Christ.
Look at Ruth, a Moabitess and former idolator. Married to a Hebrew, she was willing to leave all she had known to make Naomi’s God her God! Again, she was grafted in and found in the lineage of Christ.
Even 2nd Peter 3:9 tells us that God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
For God, the only Truth, there are no greater nor lesser men.
We all must come by faith, kneel through repentance, be washed by water in His name, and be resurrected by His Spirit.
No matter our squabbles on earth, is there indeed a Lesser Man?
Yes, we have detractors, naysayers, and those who would seek to block our ministry and our walk with God. However, are they not equally loved of God? With one moment of repentance, are they not esteemed by Him as His beloved also?
Then, who is the Lesser Man?
The Lesser Man is the one who, even after 30 years have elapsed, will whisper the criticisms of people long past in your ears during times of discouragement.
He drags up every negative word spoken to our recollection in our moments of overwhelm and fatigue, to batter us again with troubled memories.
The Lesser Man is the voice that tells you “it can’t happen” when you step out in faith.
The Lesser Man is the one who convinces you that no one loves you and that you no longer belong in the calling God gave you.
The Lesser Man is the enemy that shoves you back down in your seat in shame when the call to worship stirs your spirit.
The Lesser Man is the pride or even fear that holds you back when all you want to do is fall at the altar and sob before the Lord.
The Lesser Man is the very voice that makes you yearn to doom scroll and fritter away precious moments when it’s time for prayer and bible study.
And the Lesser Man is the one who tells you, time and again, that there is no hope for you. The miracles are for someone else. Healings don’t happen anymore, at least not for someone like you.
The Lesser Man is the nagging prosecutor who makes every logical case for why you’ll never amount to anything… that God doesn’t really want you!
The Lesser Man, if you have not realized, is us.
It is the fleshly, carnal nature that strains at sacrifice and can find every reason not to believe because somewhere down the line, you have been betrayed, rejected, forsaken by someone, somewhere before.
It is the fleshly self that continues to struggles far too long in the pit of despair and frustration because the risk of belief is too great. It whispers, “But what if I believe and it doesn’t happen?”
It’s almost as if our belief in God is a tenuous, teetering tower of delicate china and glass baubles carefully constructed into the heavens and we fear that one blow will send our faith crashing to the ground in a deafening cacophony.
Is our faith so fragile? That it can be shattered like dropped glass across the cold, hard floor?
Sometimes, yes, it is.
That is, unless we crucify that Lesser Man.
Paul said in 1st Corinthians 15:31, “I die daily.”
Yes, he meant repentance, but it was far more than that.
Daily, he had to defeat that carnal, fearful, critical, yet convincing enemy… otherwise, he could never have moved forward into the riches of grace.
It is high time we realize the negative voice in our heads for who he is. He is the Lesser Man. The more you reach, the more he’ll task you to explain your illogical action. The more you pray, the more he’ll implant doubts into your mind.
The more you do for the kingdom, the more he’ll remind you of your past failures. And the more you exercise your faith, the more he’ll try to poke holes in sails of your boat. He has to go.
It’s time we crucify the desires of our flesh, yes, but we’ve also got to crucify the doubt, the criticism, the rationales, and the fear that defy the Will of God!
I don’t know about you but I’m tired of my Lesser Man saying I can’t live for God.
I’m tired of my Lesser Man telling me there’s no reason to go to the altar for my healing…again.
I’m tired of my Lesser Man telling me that other people can be delivered but I can’t. I’m tired of being told other people can receive answers to their prayers but I can’t! I’m tired of this old flesh weighing me down with worry and fear.
I’m tired of being held back from what God is calling me to do because that voice is telling me, You’re a nobody!
I’m tired of being lied to and told, God just doesn’t work like that anymore!
I’m tired of giving in to spiritual mediocrity because my flesh is telling me, I’m not God’s favorite!
1st Peter 2:9 clearly, and contrarily to my Lesser Man, proclaims, “ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light!”
Throughout scripture, we are called God’s beloved!
Acts 2:17 proclaims that “it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.”
That’s us! That’s this generation! That’s you and me!
It’s time we crucify that Lesser Man and move forward into the promises of God!
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