written by Jesse Kleingardner

God had revealed so much through Elisha, and I wonder if the man of God saw this coming. Elisha’s servant, who is by his side in some of these great stories, puts wealth a bit too high on the priority list. Sound like anyone you know? It sounds like most of the people I know, including myself. Gehazi took advantage of the riches Naaman had and the gratitude for the healing he received. And as usual, I’m sure Gehazi had plenty of “good” reasons for it. “Ministry takes money, and God knows we could use it!” “I’ll of course give some to the poor!” “I’ll use the money better than Naaman would.” “How unwise to turn down Naaman’s offer. After all, God helps those who help themselves!” Elisha turned down Naaman’s offer to teach him that he can’t buy God’s favor, and it looks like Gehazi was too blinded by greed to see the point. And so the story goes that we’ve heard a thousand times before. Money becomes the focus and ministry becomes secondary, or worse yet, a means to an end.

It’s easy to see the mistakes here, but as with everything else, it’s harder to see the plank in our own eye. Gehazi lied to both Naaman and Elisha. Lesson #1: Don’t lie to a prophet, duh! But a practical personal check for me is this: Is there anything in my life that is causing me to lie? That’s a sign that there is some serious sin in my heart. The second symptom of Gehazi’s greed is that it caused him to go against the wishes of his master. That’s another personal check I can use: Am I submitting to the authority placed over me? Now, there can be legitimate reasons to do otherwise, but for the vast majority of the time, defying authority is a sign that I’ve got a problem and I should figure out what it is and fix it before somebody else takes up the job! The discipline God used—leprosy—may seem harsh to us. After all, if God did that to every greedy person, we’d all have skin diseases. But I see Gehazi as extremely fortunate. It’s those that God doesn’t discipline that really deserve pity, since “the Lord disciplines those He loves.” I’m not sure how Gehazi took it, but after that happened we can be certain that he had trouble denying his sin, and if it caused him to repent, then the punishment was well worth it. Right? It’s difficult for me to admit that, and as I do I look around the room frightened at the discipline I may receive. But I know it’s true that learning obedience is more important than avoiding pain. Now the last question that this passage makes me ask myself is this: Does the desire for wealth and possessions guide my decisions and life, or is serving God my true first priority? I’m going to have to think about that a while. How about you?

Your fellow traveler,
Jesse